


Unplanned Events of an Evening

by evo101



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Doctor - Freeform, F/F, F/M, M/M, Parent Marcus Kane, Police, Smut, chapter 10 is smut, minor Linctavia, minor clexa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-08-11 00:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7868200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evo101/pseuds/evo101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcus and Abby meet in the hospital, when he is collecting medication. Octavia may/may not be in trouble. Clarke and Lexa are coming home for Christmas and Clarke is yet to tell Abby about their relationship. All Abby Griffin wanted was to have a bath and a glass of wine after a long day of work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Eventful Evening

**Author's Note:**

> So I was on tumblr and then I was told I had a doctors appointment next week. Naturally this happened.

It was only ten minutes until her shift ended and all she wanted was to get home, have a warm, bubbly bath and a glass of wine. Clarke would be home in two days, it was usually just her and Clarke for Christmas these days, since Jake died they both agreed a small, family Christmas was probably better than having to worry over entertaining guests and cooking a meal for a dozen people. Clarke insisted on bringing one of her new friends from university this year, which Abby felt a little sceptical about but agreed to it eventually. 

“Excuse me?” a voice from somewhere to her side mumbled. She wasn’t really paying much attention to the voices around her.

“Excuse me?” the voice came again, a little more harshly this time. She snapped out of hr little daydream and realised there was a tall, dark haired man standing in front of the counter.

“Sorry” she mumbled. Only just noticing that she had been staring at the clock for a good five minutes. “How can I help?”

He didn’t speak, just passed her a prescription note over the counter, a little too forcibly for her liking. She scanned through the information, it was a specific type of painkiller which was not usually prescribed. Glancing back at the man in front of her, she asked him his date of birth and his home address.  
“17th of April, 1974. West-hope, Hill View Park,” he muttered. She noticed his fists were slightly clenched at his sides and he was tapping his feet against the white, polished floor. 

“It will be about a twenty minute wait” she checked the note before meeting his eyes “Mr Kane”. 

“I can’t wait twenty minutes, I need that medication now. I’m in a hurry” his voice was low but she could still detect the frustration behind it.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you, it’s not a common drug and will take a little longer to be processed” she said, trying to keep her voice as neural and polite as possible.

He looked down at his wrist, checking his watch with an annoyed expression growing on his face. When he looked back up, she had turned around and started messing around with paperwork and files. He really needed to get back to the house, he had no idea when Octavia was supposed to be back home and she had let Bellamy borrow her key after he lost his. It wouldn’t be so bad on a normal day, but today it was chucking it down with rain and he was pretty sure she hadn’t been wearing a coat when she left for school. 

Noticing he was still standing at the counter instead of in a chair in the waiting area, she turned back to face him with her best apologetic expression.

“I really am sorry, but there isn’t anything that I can do, it’s illegal to give you the medication if it hasn’t been checked” she didn’t know why he was in such a hurry, really she  
didn’t care, she just wanted to get home.

“It’s an emergency, and I know what the law is thank you very much” he snarled back at her.

Feeling her face heat up with anger, she turned back to the files she needed to sort out. He will just have to wait, like everyone else. The only way she could speed up the process is with permission from her boss, whose office was on the other side of the building and it would mean she would have to spend time after her shift to file records for him.

“What sort of emergency?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“The sort where I need that medicine and get out of here within the next five minutes” after the words left his mouth he realised it probably wasn’t the best thing to say. It made him sound like he was some type of addict. Watching her uncertain gaze flicker down his body and back up he pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans and opened up his police id card and showed it to her.

“Ok, ok. So you’re not some druggy in need of a fix, what is the emergency? And don’t play it off as something that is none of my business because if you want a chance of getting it any quicker, I want the truth”

He glared at her but she wasn’t backing down, and he did need that prescription. Shoving his wallet back in his pocket, he quickly tried to find a way to explain that he needed to get home to let his daughter in the house before she catches hypothermia, in the least irresponsible sounding way.

“Do you have kids?” he asked. A simple question she wasn’t expecting.

“One. She’s studying in Washington, why?”

“You know when you worry that they are in trouble and they probably aren’t, but you can’t help worrying because you told them you would be home hours ago, and you feel as though if you are going to be any longer something really bad is going to happen to them?”

She knew that exact feeling. Extended shifts at the hospital and being on call all hours, did result in Clarke not knowing where she was and involved a lot of frustration and panic, on both sides. It just wasn’t the exact reply she was expecting. So she nods, and waits for him to explain further.

“Look, it’s just, it would be ok if I had my car, but it’s being repaired and I have to get the bus home, which only runs every hour, and if I’m not at the bus stop in like six minutes,  
I’ll miss it” he’s sounding desperate now, she realises. 

It’s not like her to break the rules. Ok, that was a lie. It’s not like her to break rules that are job threatening. She occasionally gives extra supplies to those who really need them or allow family visitors to see patients outside of visiting hours, but all of that she can cover up. If something goes wrong when she is prescribing the medication, there can be big consequences. And yet, this man, the same one who she was ready to slap a couple of minutes ago for his rude attitude, was looking at her with a pleading look and his only intentions were to make sure his kid was ok. She knew how he felt and there had been moments when she was ready to full on murder someone to make sure Clarke was safe, which is why after a couple of seconds of looking at him, she turned around and started to sign off a form.

The woman turned away from him and after noting some things down on a paper slip, she headed into the rows of shelves and retrieved a small box of pain killers and laid them out on the counter in front of him.

Holding the box up to draw his attention to it, she told him the correct doses and storage requirements. She gave him a small smile, but before he could walk off, she grabbed his wrist and gave him a stern look.

“You tell anyone I did that, I will hunt you down and kill you, police officer or not”

He gave a small nod of appreciation and understanding before making a quick exit. 

Abby sighed with exhaustion and turned to look at the clock, relieved when she saw it was six o’clock. As quickly as she could, she went to the staff locker room, hung up her lab coat and grabbed her bag.

Pulling out her phone, whilst walking through the hospital corridors she noticed she had several new messages.

'Gonna be home a bit early. Turns out the train dates were mixed up. We will be home bout 10 tomoz morn. Can’t wait to see u again. Clarke xxx'

'I asked Lexa if she wanted breakfast at home or out she doesn’t mind. I’ll buy pancakes. Clarke xxx'

'U ok? I thought u said u finished early tonight. Call me. C x'

'Mom? Call me. Xxx'

A number of thoughts ran through her head as she stepped into the staff car park. Listening to the ringing of the phone, she reminded herself that she wouldn’t need to swing by the shops to get something for breakfast, but she hadn’t cleaned the house yet, which she was meant to be doing tomorrow after work. 

“Mom? Are you ok, you weren’t answering any of my texts?” Clarke’s worried voice blurred out into her ear. 

“I’m fine honey, just got off work late. I know you told me you were going to buy pancakes for tomorrow but I haven’t had a lot of time to clean up. So I wondered if you and Lexa would like to meet me in town for some breakfast? My treat.” This would mean that she could tidy up quickly in the morning, it was her day off tomorrow anyway and eating out with Clarke and her friend would be a nice change.

“Ok, sure. Shall we meet you at about ten-thirty, where do you want to eat?”

“I was thinking Raven’s, it has a good range of food”

“Sounds great! We’ll see you then. Bye”

“Bye. Love you”

She had just reached her car and unlocked the door. As she started to make her way onto the road, her heart sank when she saw the traffic jam ahead. It was rush hour and her main way home would probably take double the time it usually took. 

After a few seconds of silently debating her options, she changed the indicator to go left instead of right, it was a longer route but less busy at this time. She drove through town stopping at some red lights as people started to cross the road. Looking out of the window she noticed a man with his phone to his ear, although he wasn’t talking, just listening with a slightly panicked look on his face. He closed his eyes and rested his head back against a street light. It was at that minute she realised it was the same man from the hospital. His hair looked darker in the evening light and the leather jacket he wore looked as though it wasn’t doing much good at keeping him warm. Then it clicked. She watched him shove him phone back into his pocket and turn around to check the bus timetable on the wall of the small clear, plastic shelter. 

She was in the lane next to the pavement and was only a couple of meters away from him, and she didn’t know whether it was because she was slightly attracted to his soft, curling hair and his stubble jaw or because he seemed to be distressed about his current situation, the latter she convinced herself, but she beeped her car horn, which earned her his attention.

At first she thought he didn’t recognise her, but after a few seconds of staring at her he walked over to her car and ducked down to look at her through the window as she rolled it down. Her eyes met his and she didn’t really realise she was staring straight at them until he raised his eyebrows and let out a low cough, to see what she wanted.

“I take it you missed the bus?” she asked, leaning back a little with embarrassment. 

“Yeah, by about twenty seconds” he chuckled but his smile was a mask, trying to cover his worry.

“Do you want a lift?” she watched as his expression turned hesitant. “You said you had to get home urgently and judging by that phone call, missing that bus just made the situation a whole lot worse”

“I, er. I don’t want to be any trouble, you probably have plans and-” he stopped when she raised her eyebrows gave him the ‘you’re really not convincing’ look. He knew that look.

“Just get in, trust me, I’m not going to try kidnap you or something. Anyway if I did, I would most likely fail since you are part of the police” she was blabbering now, something she does when she’s nervous. Of course, she didn’t look or sound nervous to him, he just looked at her with confusion written across his face.

“You showed me your id card” she hinted, his face immediately turned with relief.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that” 

Then the red glow on his face turned amber, then green. 

“Well? It’s either you get in now or you can wait another hour” 

He looked at her for a second then opened the car door and slipped in to the passenger seat.

“Thanks” she heard him mumble. Keeping her eyes on the road she gave him a small nod and began driving through the street.

When they were nearing the end, she realised she had no idea where she was supposed to be taking him.

“Where to?” she asked hesitantly, not sure of how far she was going to be taking him.

“I already gave you my address” he replied. With a glance out of the corner of her eye, she could see a small smirk plastered on his face. She couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes crinkled at the edges as his lips turned upwards. His hair was nearly perfectly combed back apart from a couple of stray curls which draped across his forehead. He had dark brown eyes, which under the sharp hospital light seemed cold and angered, but now, under the warm yellow of the street lights, they just looked deep and God she was staring. Her head turned back to the road with the panic of being caught, again. 

“I know the address” she muttered. “I just don’t know how to get there” she clarified. 

“Take a left at the next junction and follow the road, in about ten minutes there will be a bridge going over the river, once you’re over it I’ll tell you where you go, it gets a bit complicated” 

His eyes never left the side window he was staring out of but he was clear in his words and she decided to just follow his directions. 

After five minutes of driving in silence, which she had to say was getting quite awkward, he cleared his throat and turned his head to look at her.

“I’m, sorry. About before in the hospital” Even though his apology was quiet and a bit mumbled, she could hear the regret in his voice. Being honest with her herself, she would have probably acted the same way if it was her and Clarke in that situation. It was the middle of winter and it was raining quite heavily outside, so knowing your child is stuck outside in temperatures of about 6 Celsius, it was a normal worried parent reaction.

Noticing that he was still looking at her, she realised it had been about a minute and she hadn’t replied. Well, if it wasn’t awkward before it definitely was now. 

So she held out her hand towards him and glanced at him.

“Abby Griffin”

He watched her in surprise before taking her hand in his and shaking it. 

“Marcus Kane”

Her hand was still in his and it felt so small and smooth and they weren’t shaking hands anymore, just holding them. She turned her eyes back to the nearly deserted road and smirked.

“I know”

He chuckled at her reply and regrettably let go of her hand. He noticed how her eyes lit up as she smiled and it gave him a fluttered feeling in his stomach. 

“So Marcus, son or daughter?”

He liked the way his name sounded when she spoke it, he wondered if she deliberately emphasised the ‘s’ sound at the end. He shook the thought from his head before it had time to grow.

“Octavia is the one locked out. Bellamy is the reason she doesn’t have her key. He lost his so-” he stopped, realising he was starting to waffle on. “One of each” he said a moment after, answering her question.

“And I thought one was hard to deal with” she smiled. “I couldn’t stand the school run in the morning, getting up at half six each morning, making sure Clarke had eaten breakfast and got dressed properly, must be double the work with two kids”

“I wouldn’t know” he said quietly. Noticing her frown he explained how he had come across the siblings a couple of years back. “Bellamy was brought in by one of my colleagues for stealing food, when I investigated the case, it turned out he was doing it because his mother didn’t have a job and spent most nights out of town, leaving him to look after Octavia. She was seven at the time and neither of them attended school. So after some negotiation with my boss and some encouragement with the siblings, I adopted them.”

“Well, that’s pretty intense” she said, chuckling quietly, after a moment he joined in. “How long ago was this?”

“About eight and a half years back” he replied casually.

Abby immediately slowed down the car so she could look at him properly. He frowned at the sudden action and was about to ask what was wrong, when she just watched him, jaw open and clarified “eight and a half years ago” 

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” he asked, confused of her sudden shift in behaviour.

“You said she was seven”

“Yeah?” he had no clue what was going on. One minute they were sharing anecdotes and the next she was all unreadable.

“So when you said you were worried about your daughter who was locked outside, you forgot to tell me the fact that she is like sixteen?”

“Why would it matter if it was different?”

“It’s just, sorry, I just pictured like an eleven year old, locked outside in the rain, shivering and soaking. Not some teenager who-”

“Why does it matter what age she is?” he asked, a little too harshly and he really regretted it because she had offered to drive him home, risk her job and been kind despite his angered attitude when they first met. “Sorry” he mumbled. “I just, didn’t really think you would have acted differently if you knew she was older than you thought” his voice was quiet and soft, even though his words could have sounded accusing, they didn’t.

She sighed, regretting that she ever brought it up. He was just worried about his daughter, she couldn’t blame him for that.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have just assumed” 

She started to drive quicker, keeping her eyes fixed on the road, embarrassed about her sudden outburst. When she got to the end of the bridge and her directions she stopped and waited for him to start talking. When he didn’t, she turned to look at him. He was texting someone on his phone called Callie. She watched the letters appear on the screen of his iPhone as she realised that it’s probably his wife or girlfriend or someone like that and felt herself flush red with the thoughts of his good looking appearance. Of course he probably had a relationship, I mean, he is a guy with a stable and well-paying career, who is probably seen as a hero for adopting two kids who lived in poverty.

Without looking up, he muttered for her to take a right down a small country road. There were less street lamps and even with the headlights of her car on full, she still couldn’t see properly. After another five minutes of silence he glanced up at the road and told her to take the next left and another left after that. She ended up driving down a long driveway which looked as though it had been randomly placed in the middle of a thick forest. She could just make out an old stone house at the end of the road, as she pulled up next to a SUV, a question about his car, which was meant to be getting repaired, fell from her lips.

“I thought you said your car was being repaired” she asked him, confused of the whole situation.

“It is” he replied, not taking his eyes off his phone.

“Then who does the black SUV pulled up outside your house belong to then?”

He looked up at her upon hearing her question, a question on his lips which died as soon as he spotted the car. His face morphed into a frown as he looked back at the house and soon realised there was a light on in the living room.

“Somethings wrong” he said, more to himself than to Abby.

“Who does the car belong to?” she repeated.

His sudden change of mood began to worry her. She was with a man she barely knew, in the middle of a forest with only one light by the front door of an old house and being a person who doesn’t like horror in films, she is definitely starting to panic.

Marcus slowly opened the car door and climbed out, motioning for her to stay put. Like hell she was going to do that. As he started moving towards the house, she stumbled out of the car and rushed to him.

“You need to get back in the car” he whispered, concern in his voice.

“You’re a police officer and I have no idea where I am, I think I’ll take my chances with you thanks”

“Fine, but stay behind me”

They moved up so they were in front of the door. There was no sign of a forced entry and Bellamy was definitively at a mate’s house on the other side of town. He didn’t recognise the black car in the driveway and Octavia had no way of getting in the house, so where was she? He took his keys out of his pocket and carefully unlocked the door. She noticed him reaching for something between his jacket and t-shirt. She followed his hand until she saw it holding a hand gun.

“Whatever happens, stay behind me got it?”

Abby nodded, her eyes wide with worry. This was happening, this was real, God how did her planned evening of a bath and wine turn into this? 

They moved quietly through the hallway into the house. His body was perfectly adjusted to defend an oncoming attack and she couldn’t help but notice how sexy the whole police out of uniform thing looked. Her thoughts were disrupted when she felt a large, warm hand press against her stomach, she watched as he glanced up at her and put his finger over his lips, signalling for her to be quiet. She nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact. 

A sudden loud bang caught both of their attention, it came from inside the living room.

Abruptly, Marcus kicked open the door to the living room, his gun held in front of him, ready to fire.

“Octavia?”


	2. Angry or Awkward?

“Dad!” Octavia’s voice was full of panic and embarrassment, whilst struggling to climb up off the sofa, revealing a dark-skinned man beneath her. 

Marcus quickly turned around to stare at the door, as his daughter scrambled around trying to find her top that had been tossed on the floor. Just as he was about to turn around after a polite twenty seconds of privacy, Abby stepped into the doorway, her eyes finding his. He watched as her face morphed from confusion to embarrassment, her head turning to the ground slightly accompanied by a small red blush creeping up her neck. 

Marcus was absolutely disorientated. He walked in on his daughter with a guy he had never met before, nearly shooting them both and now he was staring at a woman who had driven him home after meeting him only about an hour ago. 

“Can I turn around now?” he asked a bit awkwardly, unaware of Octavia’s current clothing situation.

“Uh, yeah” replied the now very shy sixteen year old. 

Slowly shifting his feet and turning his hips, Marcus was met with a blushing Octavia and a still shirtless man, standing next to her.

“I think I’m owed an explanation of why you didn’t answer your phone, how you got into the house without a key and why when I finally find you I see you with whoever the hell this is?” 

To everyone’s surprise, including himself, Marcus’ voice was very calm and slow, contrasting with the way his jaw was set, shoulders square and his steady hand still gripping his gun.

“Dad, I uh”

“Nice to meet you Mr Kane, my name is Lincoln” said the man who was now holding out his hand.

Even Abby couldn’t help but stare at this young man with wide eyes. His whole upper body was covered with defined muscle, even when he lifted his arm to give a hand shake, his bicep muscles would grow and strengthen visibly. If Abby had known Octavia longer she might have congratulated her on managing to find a guy as good looking as this, but she had only known her, in person for about an awkward minute and a half, and a girly chat about fit guys would not be appropriate. 

“How did you get in the house?” Marcus’ voice was stern now, refusing to take Lincoln’s offer of a hand shake, he just stared at Octavia.

“I found the spare key” she said, a little too abruptly.

“Octavia, I’m in the police force, I can tell when I’m being lied to. Now, tell me again, how did you get in?” his voice was low and still stern, and it didn’t sound like the same man  
Abby had been in her car with five minutes ago.

“Don’t get mad, but I gave Lincoln a key. Just because I-” 

“You gave a key to my house, to a stranger?” his voice becoming actually quite scary.

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would act like this” Octavia replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Act like what? Like I am angry because I walk in on my daughter making out with a guy who must be at least three years older than her? Octavia do you even realise how worried I was about you. It’s dark outside and I had no way of knowing you were safe or not”

Marcus, although sounded angry to the two kids, was talking more with a tone of relief, which is something Abby could pick up on straight away. 

“Dad, I didn’t tell you about Lincoln because you would come up with this whole protective parent stuff like you are doing right now” she defended, waving her hands in front of her, motioning to his gun.

Realising he was still holding the weapon in his hand, he immediately pushed it back into its holster by his hip and turned to Lincoln.

“Give me the key” he said quietly.

Without a word, the younger man reached inside his jean pocket and handed over the key. 

“Dad, don’t do this. Lincoln is-” her voice died out as her dad gave her a firm look.

“I want you to get out of my house in the next ten seconds”

Lincoln obediently replied with a nod, before turning around to get his shirt from the sofa and walking past Marcus and giving Abby a small, shy smile before leaving the room.

After the sound of the front door shutting, silence filled the house. Abby watched, feeling a little too unsure of what she was supposed to be doing, as the two others had a staring match. 

Eventually, Marcus let out a heavy sigh and carelessly shrank down onto the sofa. Octavia just watched in anticipation, shifting slightly from foot to foot. 

“How long?” Marcus’ voice sounded tired as he ran his hands over his face and through his hair, still staring at the ground.

“Three months” Octavia’s reply was short and shy, not quite sure how her dad wold react to her answer.

“Have you eaten?” his voice sounded distant and soft now.

“Lincoln bought me dinner” 

“Then go upstairs and do some homework or tidy your room or something”

Octavia sighed, not quite giving up on their argument.

“How come you talk to me like I’m the only one who’s done something wrong?”

Watching his confused look, she let out another, more desperate sigh.

“You’re angry at me for bringing my boyfriend home, when you’re out of the house. And for your information, my phone battery died and after dinner, Lincoln offered to drive me  
here to make sure I was home safe, then he said he will stay with me until you get home. So, what I want to know is why I can’t spend time with my boyfriend when you get to bring back a women who you probably met only a couple of hours ago”

He had completely forgot that Abby was still here. He was so caught up in the entire exchange between him and the two kids that he didn’t realise how hypocritical he must have looked without explaining that Abby had just given him a lift home after he missed the bus.

Glaring at Octavia he couldn’t help but blush a bit, knowing Abby had seen the whole thing.

“Upstairs, now”

And with that, Octavia stormed right passed Abby and slammed the door, her feet purposefully landing heavier than normal on the stairs as she made her way to her room.

Unwilling to make eye contact, Marcus just kept staring at the wooden floor boards under his feet. After about half a minute of silence, he wished he had offered her a hot drink or something instead of just blanking her.

Just before he was about to stand up, he felt the part of the sofa next to him dip with the weight of someone sitting in it.

“You shouldn’t be too hard in her, you know. It can be quite difficult being a sixteen year old teenage girl”

Marcus let out a breathy laugh, unsure of how to respond.

“I just, I wasn’t exactly picturing walking on her and her secret boyfriend making out in my living room” he said, a little shyly. 

“He seemed ok, Lincoln. Taking Octavia out for dinner then offering to drive her home and wait until your back, he even offered to shake your hand”

He inwardly winced at her sarcasm, knowing her logic did make sense.

“Do you think I over did it, with the whole protective approach?”

“I think having your dad walk in on you and your boyfriend is bad enough without him holding a gun at you, but I know where you were coming from” she said, cringing a bit in the way she tried to reassure him.

“I feel terrible now, and it’s only going to get worse, isn’t it?” he replied. Abby couldn’t help but smirk at the way his desperation was one of the cutest things she had seen in a long time.

“Clarke once brought home a guy called Finn whilst I was making dinner, they sneaked upstairs and when I heard Clarke’s phone ringing upstairs when I called her to find out where she was, I went to go and find it. Big mistake” 

They both laughed at her obvious point and Marcus began to relax a bit.

“Hey, do you want a drink, tea or coffee?” he suggested.

“A cup of tea would be nice, milk and one sugar, thank you”

He inwardly sighed in relief, glad that she wasn’t going anywhere quite yet. Even though he had only known this woman for less than a couple of hours, he already felt a sense of relaxation when talking to her.

“I’ll be back in minute” he said, before heading out of the room.

Abby sank back into the cushions of the sofa and closed her eyes. She knew she should be getting home and tidying the house a little before Clarke and her friend comes tomorrow, but she was really enjoying Marcus’ company and waiting around here a little longer wasn’t going to hurt anyone. 

She looked up and her eyes scanned the room, she hadn’t really spent any time taking in the house she had entered, it was dark outside and the whole sneaking around the house behind a man holding a gun, hadn’t let her look at any of the interior.

It was big, like really big. The house was spacious and had an old grand hotel feeling to it. The decoration on the walls were posh and looked very expensive. She noticed a cross hanging from the wall next to a large mirror, which made the room look even bigger. There were large paintings of angels and godlike figures. It certainly wasn’t the sort of house she would associate with a man like Marcus Kane. 

There were bookcases, filled with old books, gathering dust and although she wasn’t into old fashioned grand houses, the whole scene contrasted with the man and his daughter she had just met so much, that she was interested in how they came to live somewhere like this.

She was so intrigued in the rich design that she didn’t notice Marcus enter the room. Hearing his footsteps come closer, she looked up to see him wearing a quizzical expression.

“What?” he asked, sounding nervous.

“Hmm. Oh nothing. I just didn’t really picture you as the type to live in a house like this”

“Oh. It’s my mother’s house”

Noticing her confused look, he handed her the cup of tea and took a seat next to her.

“She’s currently staying in a care home out of town, my apartment was getting too small for two teenagers so she offered for us to stay here” he said, his tone careful and Abby wasn’t sure that was all of the details, but she only met him today and they barely knew each other, so she decided not to ask.

They both took a sip of their hot drinks and another awkward silence lingered between them. Then suddenly Marcus put down his cup on the small table next to the armrest of the sofa.

“Octavia, I can hear you” he called out. Abby hadn’t heard anything before but she could now just make out a small sigh coming from the hallway.

“I’m just getting a drink. God, you’re like Bellamy, seriously. If you want to know what I’m up to every minute of the day, you might as well install CCTV cameras in every room” 

Octavia’s voice was thick with typical teenage attitude, obviously annoyed at being caught.

“Don’t tempt me”

Abby was expecting his reply to be as equally annoyed as before, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

“It’s perfectly normal”

He turned his head back to Abby, a question on his lips.

“The attitude and the sneaking around” she supplied for him. He gave out a small grunt and shook his head.

“And I thought Bellamy was bad” he said whilst chuckling quietly.

“I can hear you, you know. These walls aren’t sound proof” Octavia’s voice called from outside the door.

“What happened to that drink?” Marcus called back.

The door swung open revealing Octavia’s smirking face.

“Not thirsty anymore” she replied, sounding perfectly innocent. She made her way and sat on the armrest of the sofa next to Marcus.

“I thought I told you to go upstairs” he said grimly.

“And I thought you said no bringing people home” she replied, amusement in her voice. He was not getting out of this one, not when he forced her boyfriend out of the door.

“This is Abby” he said, waving his hand in Abby’s direction.

“Not bad dad, I have to say you have chosen well” 

Octavia was enjoying this all too much, watching her dad blush was one of the funniest things she had seen, and it wasn’t a regular occurrence so she was deeply focused on making this awkward conversation last as long as possible.

“Obviously Abby, I’m sure you are now familiar with Octavia” his tone laced with annoyance.

Octavia held out her hand to Abby, which she shook and as Octavia leaned back she couldn’t help but glare daggers at her father.

“Well at least she has manners, unlike someone I know”

“Are you done yet?”

“No, I thought I could catch up with you and Abby” she said. Octavia always knew what pushed Marcus’ buttons and how to make him angry or embarrassed.

“Octavia please go away” Marcus was now verging on the point of serious embarrassment, he knew Octavia was going to say something stupid about him to Abby or find another way to make him blush and he really didn’t want Abby to think he was whatever Octavia was about to say he was.

“So, Abby, how did you two meet or was this meant to be like a one night thing and you only met him like two hours ago?” 

Abby had no idea how to reply. Does ‘We were not planning on screwing tonight, I just offered to give him a lift home’ sound convincing to a sixteen year old girl, who is currently thriving in making her dad embarrassed? 

“Does your dad pick up women often?” Abby asked, a smirk covering her lips. Marcus nearly spat out his tea, surprised at the playful tone of her voice.

“No, not often at all. In fact, you seem to be the first one night stand I have had the pleasure of being introduced to” Octavia mimicked Abby’s amusement. 

They were both having too much fun with this, and Marcus couldn’t do anything, he was trapped, in between two females who were becoming as equally as teasing as the other.

“You have no idea how many one night stands I have, and whether Abby is one of them is none of your business” Marcus stood up from his place on the sofa and moved to he was standing just in front of Octavia.

“Like you said, these walls aren’t sound proof and-”

“Ok, stop right there”

Noticing Octavia’s smirk he realised he hadn’t denied the fact that the woman who he had come home with was not a one night stand.

“And Abby kindly offered to give me a lift home after missing the bus” he clarified, with pinkness growing over his face.

“Sounds like the start of a bad porn film” 

Abby couldn’t help but smile at the remark, Clarke wasn’t as bad as Octavia seemed to be when it came down to attitude, but she had heard her daughter say that line before.

“Can you just go upstairs, please?” 

There must have been something in the way that Marcus looked at her, but whatever it was it worked, because Octavia got up and retreated back out into the hallway. After she  
left, he sank back down onto the sofa next to Abby, who was taking another drink of her tea, and sighed.

“I’m sorry about her” he mumbled.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it”

They both sat in silence for another couple of seconds, before Abby’s phone buzzed to life in her pocket. Taking it out she read the new message.

‘Can’t wait to see you tomorrow. C xxx’

Seeing Abby’s smile, Marcus became immediately curious. He knew he shouldn’t be so interested, he had only known her for less than two hours but he couldn’t help the slight  
feeling of jealousy that overcame him. 

“That was Clarke, apparently she can’t wait to see me” Abby said with a smile. 

Marcus immediately felt a little stupid and guilty about his previous thoughts, she hadn’t mentioned a husband, and she had sort of flirted with him indirectly through Octavia, or had she? It had been a while since he had a feeling of being attractive to someone, other than in a sexual interest, and he wasn’t too sure if the signals were right, or if there were any signals at all.

He watched as Abby began to frown, and realised that he had just been staring at her whilst in thought and hadn’t replied.

“Sorry, just thinking about how it’s almost like the opposite with Octavia” he lied. Well, sort of lied because now he has said that, it does feel true.

She gently placed a hand on his lower arm, and he could almost feel her warm soft hands through the leather of his jacket. 

“If she’s acting like a normal, hormonal teenager, then it’s usually a sign that whatever you are doing, you’re doing it right”

He gave her a small smile in return, still aware of her hand on his arm.

“I should probably get going, Clarke won’t forgive me if I turn up late tomorrow” 

“Oh, yeah right” he mumbled standing up and walking to the door. Abby followed him and gave him the cup. They both walked through the hallway and Marcus opened the front door.

“Thank you” 

“It’s ok”

Marcus was desperate to try and make sure this wasn’t the last time that he saw Abby, and as he watched Abby begin to walk down the steps. He could almost hear Octavia’s  
smirking voice ‘you didn’t even ask her out, seriously dad, you’re the teenager’

So as Abby reached the last step he built up the courage to ask her, well, not exactly ask her out, she barely knew him, but they could get to know each other a bit better.

“Abby wait!” he called, running down the steps to where she was standing.

“What’s wrong?” her voice was panicked and he realised that maybe his sudden outburst was a little too much.

“Nothing, I um, I wondering if I could have your number” he asked shyly, staring down at his feet to try and avoid her eyes.

When she didn’t reply immediately, he thought he had made a big mistake, maybe he had been reading things wrong. 

He heard her cough and looked up to see her hand out, palm upwards. Confused he looked up to her face, then registered the raised eyebrows and smirk. Realising what she was  
waiting for, he reached into his jacket pocket and took out his phone, quickly unlocking it and taping on the contacts icon. Watching her take the phone from him, he couldn’t help but notice how his heart beat increased, he felt like a pathetic school boy asking a girl to a dance. She typed in her name and her phone number before handing the phone back to him.

“Thanks” he said, trying to hide the smile that was starting to spread across his face.

“Your welcome” she replied, her voice was more calm than his, but she looked at him and smiled.

Feeling happy and quite proud of himself, he watched as she got in her car and drove back down the narrow isle between the trees. He looked at his phone and stared at the contact she had made for him, smiling at his achievement of asking for it in the first place. 

As she got to the end of the small road leading away from Marcus Kane’s house, her phone screen lit up and vibrated on the passenger seat. Unlocking her phone she noticed it was from an unrecognised number, smiling to herself when she opened the message, Abby began to drive home.

‘Left then right at the next junction should take you to the main road. Marcus’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was mainly the Kane side of the story. Next chapter will be mostly Clarke, Lexa and Abby based. Thank you for reading!!!


	3. Reunions at Raven's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to write too much at this point about Clarke and Lexa because I want that to come up later on, but I included how they met and Abby's first meeting with Lexa. Hope you like it!

As soon as Abby walked around the corner, she could feel her heart leap with excitement. It had been nearly six months since she had seen her daughter and watching her and her friend waiting for her in the morning sun was nearly enough to spring tears in her eyes. 

Over the last couple of years, she and Clarke haven’t had the most stable relationship, so seeing her daughter smiling at her with her big blue eyes and now quite long blonde hair was almost like a dream. Abby walked up to the two girls, her face covered in a bright smile, and hugged her daughter like it was the last day on earth. 

“It’s so nice to see you, honey” Abby’s voice nearly broke into a happy sob.

“It’s nice to see you too mom. I’ve really missed you” Clarke’s voice was muffled where her face was pressed into her mother’s winter coat.

After about thirty seconds of holding on to each other, reluctantly Clarke pulled away.

“Mom, this is Lexa. The girl I was telling you about” a slight hesitation in Clarke’s voice told Abby that her daughter was a little nervous, although, she couldn’t quite understand what there was to be nervous about.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Ms Griffin” said Lexa, who held out her hand for Abby to shake.

“You too, Clarke has told me a lot about you, and it’s Abby”

“All good things I hope” 

“Like I would tell her about that time when nearly pushed me off the-” Clarke’s quick remark was interrupted by sharp elbow in the side from Lexa. Both girls looked up at Abby smiling, which made Abby immediately want to find out what this whole incident had been about.

“Wait, Clarke, what was that?” she asked, in her ‘over-protective worried’ mom’s voice, according to a teenage Clarke.

“Oh, nothing” Clarke replied, in the lightest and most innocent voice she could put on.

“Clarke!” 

“Come on, I’m starving!” Clarke deflected, whilst pulling Lexa’s arm and dragging her into the café.

Once all three of them had sat down, ordered hot drinks and a mixed pastry special, Abby finally had a chance to study the two girls in front of her.

Somehow, Clarke had grown so much over the past six months, it made Abby feel a little regretful in not meeting up with her more often. Of course, she would have jumped at the chance to see her daughter sooner, but she had so many shifts at the hospital these days and Clarke was always doing some big important college project or going out with friends. She remembered how much fun it was, just to go out with friends on Frida nights, share a couple of drinks, go to clubs in search for any good looking guys, and it was nice just to not have a parent around at every hour of the day watching your every move. But, she couldn’t help but worry about Clarke, even though her daughter wasn’t a young girl anymore, she was turning twenty in March, she still struggled to not panic over her daughter getting too drunk one night or using protection when sleeping with someone. Of course, Clarke knew all this, but decided even though she had been a little reckless at points in her life, there was no point in dwelling over risks, that life was worth living to the fullest.

She had met Lexa one college morning in the toilets after nearly throwing up all of her breakfast, Lexa had immediately went over to help her and gave her some water, and she seemed really concerned. However, when Clarke explained to her she had a hangover and had been out late partying the night before, Lexa had just stared at her before collapsing in a fit of giggles. They both made their way to the college park and shared stories of drunken parties. And Clarke liked her, she was nice, pretty, not girly but neither was Clarke so that was ok. They had just clicked and when a couple of weeks ago, when Clarke nervously suggested spending Christmas at her mom’s and invited Lexa, she was relieved to see the excitement her friend could barely contain.

Lexa had long dark brown hair that fell in waves past her shoulders, her frame was slim and tall and her eyes matched her dark hair. Abby noticed the way her eyes lit up when Clarke was talking about something that had happened on campus and her mouth would turn upwards when she made eye contact with Clarke. 

“So mom” Clarke started, switching the subject from college to Abby’s home life. “What have you been doing, apart from working?” she added a little sarcasm on the end, just to emphasise the fact that listening to her mom talking about the late shifts at work would completely bore her and Lexa.

“I get up, eat, maybe go for a jog down by the lake if the weather is nice, go to work, get back home, watch TV, and go to bed. Not quite as exciting as your daily routines I’m afraid” she said all of this in a very matter-of-fact tone and flashed a quick smile at Lexa, who appeared a little embarrassed after Clarke’s obvious disinterest to her job. 

“So you did that last week, and every day since, until this morning?” Clarke asked, her voice flat with disapproval.

“Yes. Well, every day until last night” she replied, only to realise seconds later, after watching Lexa look down to her lap smirking and Clarke’s raised eyebrows. “Not like that” she added, clearly not amused by the girl’s assumptions.

“In what way then?” Clarke’s eyebrows were still raised and her tone was similar to what Octavia’s had been like last night.

“I drove home a man who missed the bus and needed to get home for an emergency, he was at the hospital before that and I recognised him and offered a lift” she said, her voice calm in hope that her daughter won’t think anything ‘adult rated’ happened.

“That was nice of you” Lexa said with a smile.

“Yeah, and did anything else happen?” the smirk in her daughter’s voice was obvious. 

“Clarke, I met him yesterday. Why do you always assume that I’m going to sleep with someone after doing them a favour” Abby replied, in her best stern mom’s voice.

“I was talking about his emergency actually, god mom, you have such a dirty mind!” her daughter retorted.

“Hey, I’d watch what you say if you are still expecting me to pay for your food”

“Yes, mother” Clarke answered.

They all talked a bit more about college and the various parties that had occurred in the build up to the day.

“I’m just going to the bathroom” Lexa said, as she stood up and made her way to the toilets on the other side of the café.

As soon as she had disappeared from sight, Clarke began to act all nervous again, leaving Abby slightly confused.

“Hey, are you ok?” she asked gently, placing her hand over her daughter’s.

“Yeah, just um, what do you think then?”

“About Lexa?”

Clarke nodded in reply, almost shyly. Abby definitely suspected she wasn’t being told something.

“I think she’s really nice, she seems to care about you. I’m glad you’ve found a good group of friends, you know what some college students are like” she said, rubbing her thumb over the back of Clarke’s hand and giving her a smile.

“Yeah, there are some dodgy guys living opposite us, god Murphy and Connor never shut up, no matter what time it is!”

“Us?” Abby asked, confused. She thought Clarke had her own apartment, or that was what Clarke had told her last time they had met.

“Oh, yeah” Clarke said, a bit awkwardly. “Me and Lexa are sharing rooms, her dorm got closed off after they discovered a leaking pipe above the ceiling, making a big damp stain on the walls”

“Oh, you didn’t tell me that” Abby said casually, and Clarke’s shoulders sank in relief.

“Mom, I need to tell you something, I-”

“Oh my god! Clarke! You’re back!” a voice from behind her exclaimed. In less than a second Clarke was being pulled back on her chair and wrapped up into the arms of Raven Reyes from behind.

Raven’s appearance gave Abby such a fright, she half yelped as her daughter was lurched away from the table. Some other customers seemed to have noticed Raven’s little outburst and started muttering to themselves whilst some were shaking their heads in amusement. 

“Rave-”Clarke choked for breath. “Can’t breathe” she gasped out. 

Noticing Clarke’s struggle Raven released her and pulled a chair up to their table.

“Aren’t you supposed to be shouting at the kitchen staff instead of us?” Abby asked, with a raised eyebrow and a tug at her lips.

“Nice to see you too, Abby” Raven mocked her sarcastic tone.

“Jesus Christ Raven, do you know how much you just scared the shit out of me?” Clarke asked, completely uncaring about who heard her.

“Clarke! I have customers in here, if they don’t come again because of your bad language I’ll make you pay triple of what you have bought today” 

“That’s fine, mom’s paying for it” Clarke answered, knowing how embarrassed Abby has become over the last ten seconds.

“So I’m guessing you’re here for your Christmas break, aren’t those college parties a little more inviting than this dump?” Raven gestured to Abby when muttering the last word and it earned her a laugh from Clarke and a death stare from Abby.

“I’ll have you know that ‘this dump’ is the one who, for some insane reason, helped you set up your own business after your previous occupation nearly got you blown up” Abby said, still holding her death glare on Raven’s face.

“Everyone knows that if Wick hadn’t set those stupid fireworks off, my apocalyptic themed soft play would have been a complete success, I just had a lousy, arrogant know it all who seemed to think he was good at party tricks” Raven defended, as though it was one of the most common reasons for a business to get shutdown.

“Wait, last time we talked, you said you were head over heels in love with that lousy, arrogant know it all” Clarke innocently asked, trying not to laugh at Raven’s annoyed expression.

“My mom just called, apparently the house has flooded again. I guess I’m going back to campus after this” Lexa arrived, disappointment in her voice.

“You can stay with us a little longer, until your parents get it all fixed up. That’s ok with you, right mom?”

“I don’t see why not Lexa. How long do you think it will take?” Abby asked, a small smile on her face. She had once been snowed in when she was a kid from Christmas Eve nearly up to New Year, and having a damp, cold house over the festive period, really does bring the excitement down.

“I don’t know yet, my dad said they are having the damage rated by some builders tomorrow, I don’t want to be a burden though” Lexa said shyly.

“Don’t be stupid Lex, of course you can stay” Clarke jumped in, before Abby could try and reassure her it would be fine.

“Lex?” Raven silently mouthed to Abby, her brow slightly furrowed. Abby just shrugged in reply, her friends sometimes called her Abs for short, to her it seemed a perfectly reasonable thing.

“I better get back to shouting at kitchen staff then, text me with all the gory details of college life Clarke” Abby just rolled her eyes at Raven’s sneaky remark and turned back to the other two girls.

“How about, we finish breakfast, go home, get you two settled in and maybe go for a walk in the park, they usually have lights put up in the trees by now” she suggested. Both girls nodded in agreement and finished the rest of their pastries.

Whilst walking to the car, Abby’s phone hummed in her coat pocket, pulling it out, she saw Marcus Kane’s name and phone number appear on the screen, pressing the green phone button she answered the call.

“Hey Marcus” she said, her stomach starting to flutter at the thought of him calling her.

“Abby, I, um need your advice” he replied, hesitantly. 

“Medical or parental?” she asked, whilst shaking her head at her daughter’s curious face.

“Mostly parental, hopefully not medical” 

“Octavia?” she assumed, knowing his regular concern over his daughter.

“Yeah. So, I was just trying to tidy up to house a bit” he paused, trying to figure out what to say.

“Mm-hmm” Abby encouraged him.

“I found a used condom in Octavia’s bathroom bin. What do I do?” he sounded helpless and it was kind of adorable that he phoned her to ask for advice on his own daughter’s sexual activity and how to deal with it.

“Um, ok. Is she in the house with you?” she asked, feeling a little awkward about having this conversation next to her daughter and her friend, even if they could only hear her side of the phone call.

“No, she said she was going to meet up with friends, when I asked her which ones, she went into a big argument of me being over protective, again. Which probably means she’s meeting Lincoln, doesn’t it?” his voice came out of the speaker quickly and she didn’t quite know what to say.

“Most likely”

“What do I do?”

“Have you talked to her, about sex and stuff?” This conversation was getting very awkward, for her anyway, Marcus seemed too panicked to really notice.

“Yeah, like a year and a half ago. But they do stuff about it at school as well”

“Ok, maybe mention that you would like to meet Lincoln again, get to know him better” she suggested.

“But I don’t” 

“Octavia seems pretty serious about him, anyone could figure that out. I mean, I met her less than eighteen hours ago and from what I’ve seen, she isn’t going to give up easily. You might as well try and start again”

Abby was definitely aware of Clarke and Lexa trying to eavesdrop on her conversation as they walked along the pavement.

“Do you really think that will work?” he asked, doubtfully.

“As long as you don’t point a gun at him, I’m sure it will be fine” she tried to reassure him.

“I’ll keep that in mind, thanks”

Abby giggled at his flirtatious remark, before avoiding Clarke’s questioning eyes.

“Let me know how it goes”

“I will” 

And with that, she hung up and started to pick up her pace, in a poor attempt to get away from a very curious Clarke. Unfortunately for her, the two girls caught up easily, and Clarke did her best impression of her mother.

“I know at your age it is very exciting when a boy calls you up and wants to talk to you, but please make sure you stay safe if you meet him and use protection because I’m not going to be looking after a baby when you want to go off partying!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Promise more kabby in the next chapter, I just wanted Clarke and Lexa to come in to the story line.


	4. A quiet coffee date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus builds up the courage to ask Abby out for a coffee one morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry I haven't had a chance to update sooner. Hope you enjoy!

Abby had found herself busy over the last couple of days, having Clarke back was great, but it also meant double the work, and Clarke acted exactly like a twelve year old instead of the university student she was meant to be. It was even harder trying to stop herself from arguing with Clarke in front of Lexa, who was very polite compared to her own daughter, and although she knew Lexa was kind, she couldn’t help but feel as though she was constantly being judged by the brunette.

Work had been more busy than usual, teenagers seemed to be the most common patients, coming in with a broken limb or dislocated joint because they fell off a balcony when they were drunk at a party.

“How do you even fall off a balcony?” Abby had asked one of her colleagues Jackson, when assessing a patient’s medical history.

His reply was just a small shrug and a sympathetic smile, which wasn’t the best answer, because she really wanted to know how people managed it.

The only thing that kept her from having some sort of breakdown was the small ‘ding’ sound that would come from her phone every now and then. Marcus had texted her at least three times every day since they met four days ago, and it was so nice for someone else to make the effort instead of her pushing for a conversation, like a couple of previous dates she had had. Marcus seemed to make her laugh with his desperate need for advice on parenting, which she had to admit, was extremely cute. He had asked her about work and listened to her problems about trying to get things ready for Christmas in such a small space of time, it made her feel as though he was interested in her, not like other guys who were only interested in sex and drinking. 

They had established they were both single, which earned Abby a couple of flirtatious comments after revealing this information. Everything was just so easy, even though she had met him less than a week ago, she couldn’t help but feel as though she had known him for years. Which is why she gracefully accepted when he asked her if she wanted to meet up for coffee one morning. Finding a time that suited them both was tricky, but they managed to sneak out of their busy timetables for an hour. Meaning that currently, Abby is sitting in the window seat of Starbucks, listening to the man she met four days ago explain how he was trying to set up a youth club that the young offenders he was working with could attend. 

“So, Indra and I decided that we could get about a hundred or so of the kids to sign up for this outdoor survival class, they get a special qualification if they complete the ten week course and it might do them some good to be outside, instead of being locked up in a building all day. What do you think, am I putting too much hope into a bunch of delinquents?” 

Abby took a sip of her cappuccino and gave him an encouraging smile.

“I think you’ll have a lot of work on your hands but if it gets them to pick up some basic knowledge about the outdoors and something to put on their CV, I think it’s worth it” 

Marcus smiled at her answer and continued to talk about his new plan and some of the young offenders he had been monitoring.

As he talked, Abby watched the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiled, and the stubble on his chin and cheeks lift up with his face when he did so. He was wearing a tight t-shirt, which showed off his shoulders and chest tremendously well, and she couldn’t help but glance at his arms as the muscles flexed every time he went to pick up his cup of coffee. He was perfect. Literally perfect. He asked her how she was and listened to her concerns, tried to offer her advice when he could. He talked about his work enthusiastically, which surprised Abby, because he was so confident talking about some criminal teenagers but came across as completely clueless about how to handle his own daughter. He asked her if she wanted another cup of coffee and insisted on paying since she drove him home the other night. He was good looking, not that it should matter if someone is kind and caring, but he was and she felt so lucky in that exact moment that it felt like a dream.

“How’s Clarke?” he asked her. Clarke was one of her favourite subjects to talk about to friends and colleagues and she loved how he asked her so casually, like he had known her family for years.

“She’s good. I think she’s currently Christmas shopping with her friend Lexa, they seemed a little too interested in what winter outfits I have in my wardrobe, so I’m guessing they are probably trying to find me something new to wear. As long as they don’t buy me an elf outfit, I’m fine with whatever they buy me”

“Oh I don’t know” he said, whilst looking her up and down. “I think you could pull it off” A cheeky smile covered his face, earning him a raised eyebrow from Abby.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, you know, just put on a little stripy hat and you might just look cute” he replied, the smile never faltering.

“You think I would look cute dressed up in a stripy elf costume? Really Marcus?”

“What?!”

Abby was a little surprised about how upfront Marcus was when it came to flirting, but she liked the cheeky confidence he had in his voice, so she flashed him a smile and tried to change the subject.

“Did you meet Lincoln in the end?”

“I thought we were talking about you in fancy dress?”

“Yes, we were” she said, emphasising the ‘were’.

“Fine, ok, we can talk about my daughter’s boyfriend. Yes, I did meet him, with Octavia standing protectively by his side”

“And?” She encouraged him, knowing what he was going to say.

“Fine, he’s a nice guy” he mumbled quietly, not wanting her to hear him admit he was wrong.

“Sorry, what was that Marcus? I didn’t quite hear” she teased, a smirk on her lips.

“He’s a nice guy” he said louder, adding more of a grumpy tone to his voice.

“So, there was no need to point a gun at him after all”

“You know perfectly well why I had my gun out, and I seem to remember you having no complaints as you crept through my house hiding behind me” he pointed out. 

“I was in a stranger’s house, in the middle of nowhere and the owner of the house thought there was an intruder, I think I had the right to be a little on edge, don’t you?”

“Fair point. But do I really strike you as the type of person who would lead you into a strange house with a gun and use it on something else other than an intruder?”

“I don’t know, I’ve only known you for four days” she answered innocently.

“Really Abby? You think I look like someone who would kidnap you and hold you at gun point?” 

“You had a pretty heavy dose of drugs you needed to collect from the hospital, for all I know you could be a druggy” 

He laughed at her comment, knowing that even though she was teasing, she still didn’t know why he was prescribed the drugs and was trying to ask what he needed them for.

“You have a degree in medicine, I’m pretty sure you could tell if I took drugs”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I am quite smart after all, especially when it comes to identifying middle aged men who look as though they are constantly in need of a fix”

“You know, you’re not as modest as I thought you were” he teased.

“Nope, not arrogant either, just truthful” she said with a smile, sipping her coffee.

They talked a little more about work and kids, and the upcoming preparations for Christmas, which was now only a week away. Marcus explained that he had to attend a  
Christmas party, exaggerating the fact that he and Indra were really not looking forward to it. 

Abby noticed that he talked about Indra quite a lot, but not in a romantic way, just a solid friendship in work, a little like her and Jackson. She enjoyed listening to Marcus telling her about past parties held by his police department, he always smiled to himself when he remembered a funny event, and she watched as the almost familiar creases around his eyes grew, to soften his whole exterior.

Halfway through recalling an incident where a drunk officer fell into the table of food, Marcus’ phone began to ring. Excusing himself he got up and wandered around to near the entrance of the café.

“Jaha, sir. Is there something wrong?”

“I have your son here in the station, you better get down here quick” said a stern voice on the other end.

“Is Bellamy alright?” he asked, voice now laced with concern.

“He’s ok, we have cleaned him up. He’s been in a fight, you should really get here as soon as you can”

“Ok, um, I’ll be there in ten minutes, thank you sir”

After hanging up, he walked quickly over to the table Abby was sitting at, an apology forming in his head.

Sitting down on his seat opposite her, he put on his leather jacket. At her confused look, he tried to explain his brief phone call.

“Abby, I’m really sorry. That was my boss, Bellamy is at the station, he’s been in a fight, I kind of have to go”

“Oh” she muttered, surprised. “Is he ok? Is he hurt?”

“Nothing serious, I don’t think. I’m going to try and find out what’s going on. I’ll, um, call you later?” he half asked, not really knowing if she is mad at him for leaving in such a hurry.

“Please do. I hope he’s ok” she said, with a sympathetic smile.

Marcus just nodded, standing up.

“I am really sorry. Maybe we can do this again sometime?”

“I’d like that”

“Ok” he breathed out, relieved she answered positively.

Taking one last look at her, he smiled and exited the café, jogging to his car parked on the other side of the road.

Abby watched as he got into his car, and drove down the street into the centre of town.

“Ok” she murmured, as she watched his car drive away.


	5. Is parenting always this difficult?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Marcus finds out what happened to Bellamy, he can't help but feel as though he might not be doing as good a job as Abby had told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's been ages. This isn't really focused on Kabby that much, but I have so much stuff in my head that I want to write and not a clue how to write it. Hope you enjoy!

Marcus stepped out of his car and began to jog across the car park. Bellamy hadn’t been involved with any sort of incident in years and whatever had happened must be pretty serious for Jaha to call him. 

As he stepped into the station and proceeded through the small security barriers, Marcus tried to calm himself down. Bellamy was seventeen the last time he had been brought down to the station, Marcus remembers how stupid he thought Bellamy was, punching one of his classmates because they said his girlfriend was sleeping around.

Over the past few years though, he had been working hard on how to handle his temper and having Marcus as a male role model helped, and now Bellamy had a stable job working as a gym trainer earning a good wage. After a lot of persuasion from Marcus, Bellamy had joined his school football team and turned his built up anger into strength when playing a match. He had a strong physique and his commitment to the team helped take him away from street crime and his old mates, some of which Marcus had recently arrested due to gang crime. So whilst Bellamy still lived at home, he was very much his own man and worked hard to save up money so he could move out of town within the next couple of years.

This was why Marcus was so confused about having to collect him from the station, Bellamy has had a clean file for his adulthood. He never got into trouble, the only arguments he had was with Octavia, usually on where to eat out and what sort of food they want, nothing at all as big as whatever had happened now.

When he reached the office door of his boss, Thelonious Jaha, he knocked politely but with a sense of urgency and waited until he was invited in.

The first thing he saw was the tall, dark skinned man, who leaning over his desk and with his back to Marcus’ position, Bellamy.

“What’s going on?” Marcus asked, uncertainty creeping in to his voice.

“Kane” Jaha greeted him. “I’m glad you made it here in good time. Bellamy has something to tell you” he said, turning his glare to the young man sitting quietly in front of him.

“Bellamy?” Marcus questioned. There was definitely something wrong, Bellamy was sitting still in his chair, eyes on the ground.

“I’m fine” a deep grumble came out of the younger man’s mouth.

“Ok. I need one of you to tell me what’s going on right now” Marcus ordered, his tone harsh and impatient.

There was a long silence before Bellamy shuffled a little and stood up, turning to face Marcus. 

All he could do was stare.

Bellamy’s face was covered in dark, red scars, his left eye was black with a bruise, his hair messed up and all out of place from his usual slicked back style.

“What happened?” Marcus’ voice was low, shock mixed with disbelief thick in his tone.

“He got into a fight” Jaha answered, sounding very disapproving.

“I didn’t get into a fight, things just got out of hand” Bellamy retorted.

“A full on fist fight, isn’t what I would describe as ‘out of hand’” Jaha replied.

“A fight with whom?” Marcus asked.

Another pause of silence hung in the air, before a weak response was mumbled out of Bellamy.

“Lincoln”

Marcus just stared at him, Bellamy hadn’t punched anyone in years from what he knew.

“Why?”

“I saw him with Octavia” he mumbled.

“Bellamy, I have met Lincoln. He is a nice guy and-”

“He had drugs” Bellamy interrupted, his voice raising.

“What?”

“I saw him show them to her, so I went over and tried to get her to come home”

Marcus was completely confused, after meeting him, he approved of Octavia’s new boyfriend. He was nice, well-educated and it turned out he had quite a lot in common with Marcus when it came down to interests and sports. That was his first thought.

His second made him feel numb. Octavia hadn’t been taking drugs all along, had she? She seemed perfectly normal at home, he was a police officer and if she was taking them, surely he would have noticed.

“Are you sure they were drugs?” he asked slowly, looking Bellamy right in the eye.

“Does it look like I doubted what I saw?” 

“Bellamy-”

“I tried to get Octavia to come home but she refused and told me to get lost, she kept saying I was always on her case and she asked Lincoln if they could drive back to his place” he tried to explain.

“And?”

“Lincoln asked me what was wrong and when I told him I knew he had drugs on him, he said I was crazy and took Octavia’s hand and started leading her away”

“And then Bellamy punched him” Jaha stated, very matter-of-factly.

“I tried to grab Octavia’s arm and he shoved me away. I just tried to stop Octavia” Bellamy replied, anger seeping into his voice.

“A woman who walked past called the police and they were both arrested” Jaha explained. “Lincoln has given a blood sample and urine sample for a drug test, which will be available within the next eight hours. Since, it was Lincoln that was first provoked, if his drug test comes out negative, he will be allowed to leave the station” 

Marcus just stood still in his place, processing the information.

“Bellamy will need to be kept in a holding cell until tomorrow morning at least”

“Surely that’s not necessary” Marcus tried to reason with his boss.

“I’m afraid it is. You will need to sign some paperwork, but there is nothing more you can do until Lincoln’s drug test has returned and whether Lincoln decides to press charges, it will be about twenty hours until you can see Bellamy again”

Marcus took a deep breath.

“Can I have a minute alone with him?” 

“Of course” Jaha granted, before opening the door and leaving the room.

Bellamy sank back down into his chair, his back facing Marcus. He knew he was in trouble, but he was angrier with himself for disappointing Marcus more than anything.

Marcus moved to lean against Jaha’s desk, so he could see Bellamy’s face.

“I hope you understand that what you have done is going to look bad, especially in the future when it comes to finding other jobs”

Bellamy just stared at the wall in front of him, not wanting to answer.

“I also hope that you understand that, although I’m not pleased with your actions, I admire your concern over you sister”

Bellamy could feel tears beginning to cloud his eyes. He had tried so hard not to break in front of Jaha, he wanted to try and not break in front of Marcus, but everything he has done to lift himself up from his old life has just been demolished.

“Ok” Marcus said, pausing to think for a couple of seconds. “I’m going to find Octavia and ask her about what you saw. I’ll come back tomorrow morning and find out what’s going to happen and then see if there is anything I can do to limit any charges that are put on your record, ok?” he explained slowly, making sure that Bellamy could think what he was saying through.

“I’ll see you tomorrow” he said, taking one more look at the younger man before walking over to the door. 

Just as he was about to open it, he heard Bellamy mutter a small “Thank you” before he headed out of the door.

He followed the narrow corridor down to the reception desk, where Jaha was waiting for him holding some legal documents.

“Was Octavia brought here?” he asked, whilst taking the pen Jaha offered him and scribbling his signature down, multiple times.

“She is in the waiting room across the hall” Jaha replied. “Marcus, I’m sorry about Bellamy. I know he was heading in the right direction”

“He still is” Marcus replied softly, before handing the sheets of paper back to his boss and walking over to the small waiting room.

Opening the door he found Octavia sitting in one of the chairs, her legs lifted up, hugging them to her chest.

As he drew closer, it was clear that Octavia had been crying. Mascara ran down her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. She looked up as she saw him coming closer, pleading internally that he wasn’t angry at her.

When he sat down next to her and opened up his arms, she didn’t waste a second crashing into him. The sound of her muffled cries began to make his own eyes water, at that moment all he knew was that, no matter what was going on, he had to fight for these kids, his kids. 

“Hey” he cooed, over and over, repeating her name. “It’s going to be fine. Everything’s going to be ok” 

“Are you mad at me?” she asked, her face still buried in his chest.

“Have you taken drugs?” he asked with a soft sigh.

“Not with Lincoln, I swear dad, never with Lincoln” she mumbles, her voice still trembling. “I did once at a party a couple of months ago, but it was only once and I have never seen Lincoln touch drugs either” 

He doesn’t know if her confession about taking drugs at a party is a good or bad thing, at least she is being truthful, which seems to be enough to convince him that he will talk to her about it after everything has settled down a bit. 

“I believe you” he assures sure, because it is true. Octavia lies just like any other teenager, but when she tells the truth about something she feels guilty about, it is the truth.

“What’s going to happen to them?” she asked, looking up at him with watery eyes.

He explains the process of how these incidents are dealt with, telling her about Lincoln’s drug test and his choice to charge Bellamy is he is clean. Octavia doesn’t think he will charge her brother, Lincoln is kind, but most of all he knows Octavia’s past and he knows how much Bellamy cares for her. 

They both agree to drive home and get some lunch. Marcus promises to make them some grilled cheese on toast, and when Octavia asks if they could order pizza for dinner, he agrees that a night watching movies and snacking on popcorn is just what they both need.

He decides that he’ll call Abby tomorrow, to let her know what’s going to happen. He still feels guilty about leaving her in that café, she didn’t seem to mind and when she asked him to tell her any news, he was amazed at how lucky he was, finding a woman that was so…so Abby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


	6. Date no.2 with a side order of Octavia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late Xmas shopping leaves Abby in Arkadia shopping mall, with pleasant, unexpected company for an almost stress-free hour or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe so many people like this! I really appreciate all of the comments and kudos guys. Love you :)

Abby knew she probably should have already done the Christmas shopping at least two weeks ago, but December is the busiest month of the year at the hospital, and she has had so much on her mind, even the thought of present shopping was enough to make her feel a little sick. 

Today however, she gave in. Clarke and Lexa went out for an early gym session, which Abby was reluctant to join, and the girls promised to meet her in town at half eleven, leaving Abby to do the major presents and grocery shopping. Which is why she is currently in Arkadia Shopping Mall with at least two hundred pounds worth of presents and a headache. 

Usually the festive songs would be accompanied by her gentle humming, the lyrics to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ passing through her mind as she picked out presents. But after three bottles of wine, shared with the girls, she was beginning to regret last night’s actions. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy our newest range of festive clothes, toys and decorations. And because Christmas is less than a week away, we have half of our products on a special delivery bargain! Enjoy your day” an enthusiastic voice echoed through the main building.

Abby walked through the crowds of people, making her way through families and groups of friends and she couldn’t help but feel lonely. All those memories of her, Jake and Clarke going out and buying gifts seemed like a lifetime ago. 

Jake had always made everything seem so happy, whenever she was stressed about work or certain deadlines, he would always comment on it with a joke and his signature, smirking smile. After he died, Clarke kept her distance, not because she blamed her mother, she just closed off most relationships. Finn, Clarke’s old boyfriend, did his best to comfort her, and after weeks of trying he finally did. That had been a relief to Abby, although Clarke wouldn’t talk to her, she had Finn. Lost in thought, Abby only realised someone was calling her after a couple of small ringing sounds. Taking her phone out of her bag, a smiled immediately graced her face to see Marcus’ contact on the screen. 

Moving away from a group of loud teenagers, Abby answered.

“Hey”

“Hi” the now familiar voice replied.

“How are you?” she asked, not knowing whether Bellamy’s situation had been sorted.

“Alright. Bellamy had to stay down at the station overnight, I took Octavia home after I spoke to him. Lincoln has done a drug test”

She had no idea what was going on. From what Marcus had told her yesterday, she assumed that Bellamy had been in trouble, she didn’t really think about Octavia.

“A drug test?”

“It’s a long story, basically both of them are in holding cells and I have to go over there at lunch to find out the results”

“I’m sorry” she said, not quite knowing what to say.

“Thanks. I’ve just been trying to keep Octavia occupied with somethings, I can’t really tell if it’s working” 

Marcus’ voice sounded rough and sleep deprived, he must’ve been really worried last night. Clarke had never been arrested, the most trouble she had ever been in was getting caught kissing Finn in the caretaker’s storeroom. Abby tried to keep a serious face when telling her daughter off, but eventually her amusement of the situation peeped through and she ended up sharing stories with Clarke about similar circumstances when she was younger. 

“You still there?” Marcus’ voice asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just lost in thought, I have quite a lot on my mind”

“I’m sorry if I’m keeping you from them” he replied shyly.

“You’re not” she quickly answered. “It’s good to talk to you, I was a little worried after you left in such a hurry”

“Sorry about that”

“It’s fine”

There was a moment of silence and Abby could hear Octavia’s voice in the background, muffled by the phone. She listened as Marcus told her to wait until he was off the phone, followed by Octavia’s whining voice.

“Hang on” Marcus said.

He was clearly not understanding whatever Octavia was trying to tell him.

“For god’s sake turn around” Octavia’s voice complained, rather loudly as Abby could hear it clearly through the speaker.

There was another silence before she heard Marcus start to laugh.

“Jesus dad, you’re so thick” Octavia sneered.

Marcus’ laugh slowed down to a light, breathless chuckle. She enjoyed that sound, really enjoyed it. It was nice to know that something was amusing him during all of the chaos.

“Abby” he breathed out.

“Yes?” she asked, wondering what was so funny.

“How much did you spend on those?”

Utterly confused, Abby glanced up. He didn’t just guess what she was doing did he?

“What are you talking about?”

She had no idea what was going on.

“The bags in your hand” a deep voice came from behind her.

Turning around, she met Marcus’ soft gaze. She let her hand fall down to her side, clicking the ‘end call’ button and slipped it in her bag.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, after realising she was just staring at him.

“He thought shopping would take my mind off things” Octavia’s bored voice came from behind him. 

“And it’s not working?” Abby asked, knowing the answer already.

“Not one bit”

“I am here you know!” Marcus interrupted.

“None of your business” Abby said out of the blue, facing him.

“Excuse me?”

“You should never ask a lady how much she has spent on something” Abby said, trying to keep a serious face. “Just for the record”

“She’s right you know, you really need to believe me when I tell you these things” Octavia chirped in.

“I think asking you how much you have spent and asking Abby is quite different”

“Abby did just say ‘a lady’, so that includes me” Octavia replied smugly. 

“And you’re under eighteen, making you my legal responsibility. Nice try Octavia” Marcus replied, matching Octavia’s previous tone.

Abby watched the conversation play out. She wasn’t jealous exactly but I tiny bit of sadness washed over her, wishing Clarke would have talked to her like that when she was Octavia’s age. 

“You, um, been here a while?” Marcus asked her.

“I have nearly everything I came to get” she answered, looking down at her shoes.

“Well, since Octavia has finally admitted to not enjoying our little outing so far, and I left you early yesterday, would you like to join us for a shopping break at Costa?”

“I would” Abby said, smiling at him. “Thank you”

“Finally, something worth actually doing” Octavia added, making Marcus roll his eyes.

After a stern glare from Marcus, a roll of her own eyes from Octavia and Abby’s objections, Marcus took the majority of Abby’s shopping bags from her as they made their way through the mall. It was nice to relieve her aching arms from the stress of carrying the bags and Abby couldn’t help but smile at Marcus’ gentlemanly behaviour.

As they found a table, Marcus asked what Abby and Octavia would like to drink and headed off to join the line; which to much of Octavia’s amusement, left her and Abby alone.

“He said he was going to file some paperwork”

At Abby’s confused look, Octavia held a wide smirk on her face.

“I’m sorry?” Abby asked, confused yet again what the subject of conversation was.

“Yesterday. He told me he was going to the station to file some paperwork on a recent case”

“Oh” Abby sighed, not really knowing how to describe their meet up as.

“But he was on a date with you” Octavia supplied, very matter-of-factly.

“It wasn’t exactly a da-”

“It was a date Abby” the younger girl interrupted. “I have never seen him stare at his phone, texting someone for so long. You have made a pretty big impression”

“We’re just friends” Abby replied, not really knowing whether to believe her own comment.

“Right. I have friends, quite a lot actually and we go out for coffee and get takeaway pizza, but we don’t stare longingly into each other’s eyes like we are completely and utterly in love”

“Ok. I have known your dad like five days and we don’t stare longingly into each other’s eyes, we have pleasant, friendly conversations” Abby defended.

“He hasn’t been with anyone properly in ages, just a couple of women every now and then, which is why I think you should confess your overwhelming love for him and just get on with it” Octavia exaggerated the ‘confess your overwhelming love’ part in a girly, princess voice, causing Abby to grin.

She really liked Octavia, although Marcus seemed to always have something to worry about the girl, Abby thought her cheeky attitude and comments were quite well thought of, and there was always a happy atmosphere when Octavia was around.

“Look, I just think that you two should get to know each other a bit better”

“We text each other and we have met up for coffee, what more do you want us to do?”

“Ha! So you admit it!” Octavia exclaimed, rather loudly to Abby’s dismay.

“Admit what?” Marcus’ voice came from behind them, holding a tray full of coffee and a chocolate brownie slice.

“Nothing” Abby said quickly, not wanting Marcus to wonder what they had just been talking about.

Marcus just gave her a curious look, his brow furrowed, but then gave her a small smile whilst handing her a coffee. As he sat down, Octavia grabbed the plate holding the brownie and started to eat it, rolling her eyes at her father’s disapproving look.

“What? I had a banana for breakfast” she brought her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. “Like five hours ago” 

Abby bit back a smirk at Octavia’s attitude, but more at the way Marcus shook his head and sipped his coffee in obvious annoyance.

As they sat and sipped their coffees, Abby took her time to, yet again, observe the man opposite her. His stubble was starting to grow into a light beard, which seemed to soften his features. He also had the ability to grow his hair in the space of no time at all, even the curl that used to sweep over his forehead was starting to become a fringe, which he was constantly pushing to the side. 

She honestly couldn’t believe she thought this man was so irritating when she first met him in the hospital, she felt like she had known him for years. Hearing his deep, soft voice was now becoming a somewhat familiarity and the more she met his dark, brown eyes, the harder it was to look away.

At that exact moment, Marcus looked up, causing Abby to blush knowing he had caught her watching him. He dipped his head down and looked back at his coffee, in an attempt to cover his growing smile.

Octavia watched the whole thing with a glint of amusement in her eyes, to her nothing was more funny than watching to middle-aged people make heart eyes at each other, only to be embarrassed when caught in the action.

“I’m just going to the bathroom” Octavia announced, standing up whilst taking another bite of her brownie.

Both adults just nodded at her and watched as she disappeared around the corner.

“You seem to have bought a lot of presents” Marcus commented, giving her a curious look.

“With Clarke and her friend over I thought I would be best if the Christmas tree had more than five presents under it this year” she said with a smirk.

“I still need to do presents, but somehow I have all the food in for Christmas dinner. Not quite sure how that happened, but at least I don’t have to worry about the shops running out of turkey this time” he grinned.

“What are you planning on getting the kids?”

“I thought I could get Octavia a new pair of headphones, she somehow managed to drop her old ones in the bath” he replied, chuckling.

“And Bellamy?” Abby asked.

A brief look of sadness washed over Marcus’ face, his thoughts on Bellamy’s current position.

“He was asking for a treadmill but I don’t think I can order it to come before Christmas, so that might have to be a birthday present instead. I thought about getting him a new bike, my friend owns a shop nearby and some models are on a discount for Christmas”

“I’m sure he’ll like it” she said, placing a hand over his to comfort him.

He looked down at their hands and turned his over so he was holding her delicate fingers in between his. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at her. She was watching him, like she was before. Her eyes were scanning his face, then landing on his eyes and smiling softly.

“Abby, I-”

“God, can you two get a room?” Octavia’s sarcastic voice caused both adults to look up, before Abby quickly snuck her hand back out of Marcus’ and placed it back in her lap, immediately missing his strong, warm palm.

Marcus let out an awkward cough and turned his attention back to drinking his coffee as Octavia sat down.

They finished their drinks with a light conversation, Octavia sometimes complaining that they were acting like twelve year olds on Valentine’s Day. 

After agreeing that time was getting on, they decided to head out of the cafe. Abby explained she had a couple more things on her shopping list that she needed to get before meeting Clarke and Lexa, and Octavia reminded Marcus that they needed to be at the station for quarter to twelve. 

“I’ll talk to you soon Marcus” Abby said, placing a hand on his upper arm, trying to ignore the way his muscle flexed under her touch and the feeling of butterflies in her stomach when he did so.

“Yeah. I’ll let you know how things go with Bellamy” he said with a nod.

“And Lincoln” Octavia mumbled, her face looking the saddest it had been that day.

“And Lincoln” Marcus repeated, trying to reassure Octavia.

“Bye” Abby said, although it came out more like a whisper.

Marcus watched as Abby turned around and made her way into the crowd of people until she was out of sight.

“You’ve got it bad dad” Octavia told him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Marcus’ face lit up with a small smile, still watching the crowd that Abby disappeared into.

“I know”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading :)


	7. A Decoration Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa attempt to make Christmas cupcakes whilst decorating the house, with a help from a couple of old neighbours, but not quite in the way Abby had hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I have re posted this chapter because it didn't appear to update on the correct date)  
> Sorry I haven't updated in like two weeks. Exams and assessments have drained me, so instead of revising for my Biology test, I thought I could write something. This chapter is a little different as the main characters are Clarke, Lexa and a couple of the other delinquent characters, a little bit like a crack fic chapter but I will focus more on Kabby in future chapters. I will try and update a little more often. Hopefully :)

“I promise you nothing will go wrong mum, we are old enough to bake some cakes and put up some tinsel” Clarke whined, as she stood next to Lexa in front of a very sceptical Abby.

“Fine. As long as you swear that you will clean up all the mess afterwards, I’m not coming home from work to a house with dust all over the carpets”

“I’ll even make Lexa hoover up, something she can’t quite do on campus”

Abby just responded with a sarcastic smile and an eye roll.

“Please make sure she doesn’t create too much of a mess” Abby asked her daughter’s friend, who answered with a small nod and smile.

After ten minutes of Clarke begging her to just go to work and leave them alone so they could actually get on with what they had to do, Abby turned around with a sigh, grabbed her small rucksack and stepped out into the snow.

As soon as the door closed, Clarke turned away and ran into the kitchen with a squeal, and with an eye roll of her own, Lexa followed.

“Ok. So I was thinking that we could do three different designs, Christmas tree, present and snowflake. If we want them to last for the next couple of days, I think we should bake about fifteen, so that’s about five of each design. What do you think?”

Lexa just stood watching as Clarke seemed to transfer the whole contents of the baking cupboard onto the kitchen table, whilst blabbering on about cupcake designs.

“How long has it been since you have made cakes?” she asked mockingly.

“Why?”

“You are way too excited for this” she answered with a smirk.

“Come on Lex, I don’t have time for you to just stand there and question me”

With a short laugh, Lexa joined Clarke and helped to get the remaining ingredients out of the cupboard.

About an hour and a half later, the two girls were covered in flour, smears of butter and cracked eggs on each of their heads with about seven actual cupcakes in the oven. Only realising that they had spent nearly the last two hours causing a catastrophic mess in the kitchen, Clarke sadly decided that they should probably stop throwing the remaining ingredients of her mother’s cupboard at each other and start the decorations.

“You are in such deep shit Clarke!” Lexa giggled, quickly dodging the wooden spoon that had been hurled at her.

“I will have you know, she asked you to look after me, and therefor you’re the one who’s going to get it in the head”

“I’m the innocent guest from college whose parent’s house has been flooded for Christmas. Plus, I’m pretty sure your mom would choose me over you anytime, and she’s only known me for several days” Lexa said, her voice full of arrogance and her head tipped high.

“Oh you are, are you?”

“Don’t give me that cheeky grin Clarke Griffin, flirting with me won’t get you out of the mess you’re in”

Taking a step closer, so both girls were only inches apart, Clarke gave Lexa an amused smirk.

“I think you underestimate me, Lexa” her voice was barely a whisper.

“Oh, I don’t think I do” Lexa replied, closing the space between them.

Their lips met in a gentle kiss, it wasn’t the type which indicated they wanted something further, Clarke knew what sort of kiss that was, and even though Lexa was standing right in front of her with her brown eyes and brown hair, they were both covered in baking ingredients and still had to decorate the house and clean up all of the mess.

“When do you think I should tell her?” she whispered, as they pulled back.

“About us?”

“No, about the man on the moon!” Clarke exclaimed sarcastically, earning a grin from Lexa.

“Do you want to tell her before Christmas, or on Christmas, or after?” At Clarke’s blank look, she rested their foreheads together. “Whenever you want, ok? No rush” she said calmly.

Clarke gave a small nod and they settled into a comfortable silence.

Suddenly Clarke drew back, eliciting a small yelp of surprise from Lexa.

“I’ve got it!”

“Got what?”

“Don’t worry about a thing” Clarke said, her whole body gleaming with joy. With a quick kiss to Lexa’s forehead, she ran into the hallway and grabbed her phone.

Lexa watched as she dialled a number into her phone and waited impatiently for whoever the recipient was, to answer.

“Hey, Jasper. You still around town?”

Lexa had heard Clarke’s stories about her old neighbours Jasper and Monty, and how they always threw the best parties back in high school.

She watched as Clarke’s smile widened.

“Are you free right now? I could use a hand” she asked.

There was laughter on the other end of the phone and Lexa could hear multiple voices coming from Clarke’s speaker.

“Ten is even better, thanks” she said with a giggle.

Clarke turned around and started walking back to the kitchen in Lexa’s direction, an obvious smile of joy on her face.

“I’ll see you in ten minutes then, bye”

Ending the call, she walked over the sink, washed her hands and turned back to face Lexa.

“Ok, so we have Jasper, Monty, Nate, Bryan and Harper coming over to help. Am I a genius or what?” she flaunted, smirking with her success.

“They actually agreed to help you?” Lexa asked in disbelief

“Us” Clarke corrected. “Three hours until mom gets home and seven of us to tidy up, easy”

As soon as Jasper rang the doorbell, Clarke bolted from the kitchen to the front door.

“Your saviours have arrived” Jasper exclaimed in an old English accent.

“And we are very grateful for your help” Clarke said, hugging each of her friends in turn.

As they entered the house one by one, all smiling and cheery, Lexa approached Clarke with a look of uncertainty. She didn’t know how much Clarke had told her old friends about her, and was slightly nervous to introduce herself.

“Guys, this is Lexa” Clarke said, oblivious to Lexa’s concerns.

“So you’re the one that has been taking care of our girl” Jasper stated, feigning a disapproving voice.

“That’s me” Lexa mumbled.

“Well in that case, congratulations Clarke, I’m happy for you” Jasper exclaimed, giving Clarke a friendly bear hug.

Then to Lexa’s surprise, Jasper threw his arms around her, muttering how happy he was for them both.

“So, where’s the booze?” Monty asked.

“What booze?” Clarke asked, confused.

“Jasper said you were having a reunion type thing” he replied, equally unaware of what was going on.

“Yeah, sorry about that guys, a may have told a tiny lie” Jasper said, backing into the kitchen slowly, with the others following.

“What the hell did you do to your kitchen?” Nate exclaimed, eyes wide with shock.

“Jesus Clarke, you’re dead” Bryan muttered, under his breath.

“Ok, I’ll make a deal with you guys. Lexa and I will clean the kitchen and the rest of you can decorate the house” Clarke suggested, in her calmest ‘mom’ voice.

“Deal” Jasper said quickly, before any of the others could refuse. “As long as we can stay for dinner”

“No way!” Clarke replied. “I can’t let my mom find out you helped us”

Receiving a few odd looks, Lexa just smirked and watched as Clarke stood motionless, looking like an absolute idiot.

“She’s too stubborn to let her mom think she needed help” Lexa supplied, watching as Monty and Harper shook their heads with a smile on each of their faces.

Clarke Griffin was one of the most stubborn people Lexa had ever met. She was always deciding what to do based on instinct and if she was ever challenged, once she agreed she wouldn’t back down. A couple of weeks ago, Clarke had a major assignment in for a week after she was given it, at the same time she was also caught up in doing this exercise challenge with one of her friends Luna. After running several miles a day, for five days in a row, she was too tired to even look at the essay requirements and was forced to explain why she had handed it in two days late, all because Luna had said that thought Clarke wouldn’t have been able to keep up with her active schedule.

The memory made Lexa smile and before she knew it, she had let out a small chuckle which soon turned into a hysterical laugh. Of course, no one knew what she was laughing at and so the others just watched as she bent over the table and tried to control her breathing.

As she calmed down, she faced the group whilst biting her lip in order to cover up her smirk, not that it was any use now, she just felt a little too embarrassed at her random fit.

“Ok, so shall we start?” Clarke said, trying her best to ignore another burst of laughter from her girlfriend.

“Where are the decoration?” Harper asked, whilst clapping her hands together to indicate she was ready to start.

“In the living room, next to the sofa. Just make everything look half decent and-”

“We know. We will be rewarded with dinner, no need to tell us Clarke” Jasper interrupted, his voice light and cheerful.

As the others disappeared Clarke turned to face Lexa with a strong look of amusement and confusion at the same time.

“What the hell was that all about?” she asked, completely puzzled at Lexa’s actions.

“Doesn’t matter” Lexa mumbled.

“No tell me, you just took one look at me and had a giant laughing fit, I deserve to know” Clarke whined.

“You’re so much like your mom” Lexa said, giving her a quick peck on the lips, before turning to head out of the kitchen.

“Hey! You’re meant to be helping me clean up” Clarke called.

“I need a piss, you’re a big girl Clarke, I’m sure you can get started without me” she called back, a smile covering her features as she made her way up the stairs.

As the hours went by, they actually made quite an improvement to the house. The kitchen was scrubbed clean, the remaining ingredients were put away and Jasper and his team of ‘elf helpers’, which he had named his friends after putting elf hats on their heads, had done a pretty good job of making the house look festive.

There was tinsel twisted around the banister next to the stairs, the warm fairy lights were glowing from their place above the fireplace, the Christmas tree had been put up but was left undecorated, so Abby, Clarke and Lexa could design it themselves. With a bit of a push from Bryan, they had managed to hoover up all of the loose pieces of tinsel and bits of pine leaves left from the tree, leaving the house looking ‘immaculate’, according to Jasper.

So by the time they heard Abby’s car pull up into the driveway, they were all waiting in the living room with a couple of cans of beer talking about their jobs and college life.

“Politics is really interesting once you get past trying to get your head around all of the laws and rules of each state, my professor is thinking about organising a field trip for our class, to go to court and watch how a trial works” Bryan said, explaining his past couple of months at university.

“And watch someone get done for murder, sounds fun” Nate deadpanned.

“I would like to think of it as experiencing the theory in action actually” Bryan responded.

“Sorry Bryan, but it sounds like a living hell” Jasper said sarcastically. “You guys should really try chemical studies, it’s so much more interesting” he said, much more enthusiastically.

“Oh yeah, coming out of every lesson with your face covered in black dust and your hair spiked up sounds really fun” Harper said, smirking from the memory of Jasper in his post-experiment state.

“Ok, that was once! And it didn’t even take that long to clean up afterwards. It’s not my fault that David added too much sodium hydroxi-”

The sudden sound of the smoke alarm shocked everyone, Clarke immediately jumped from her place on the sofa and ran into the kitchen.

“What the hell is going on?” shouted a very angry looking Abby, who had just walked through the door.

“Shit” Clarke muttered under her breath, as she switched the oven off and started to jump around wildly, trying to waft smoke away from the alarm.

“Clarke!” Abby’s voice was a very threatening sound, as she stormed into the kitchen carrying her work bag looking completely exhausted.

The others followed behind Abby into the kitchen, desperate to see what state the kitchen was in.

“Mom, I swear everything was fine until now”

“You better have a good explanation for why my house was nearly set on fire” Abby threatened, looking absolutely furious as she watched her daughter’s eyes focused on something behind her. Turning around she was met with six very innocent looking pairs of eyes.

“Hello Ms Griffin” Jasper said, trying his best to make his voice sound happy and not in complete shock.

Turning her head back to Clarke, a question forming on her lips, Clarke just stood there, smoke surrounding her and eyes frantic.

“Mom, I can explain and er, can they stay for dinner?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. All comments and kudos are appreciated :)


	8. Poor Explanations and Excuses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus fails at explaining his new friendship with Abby to Bellamy on the drive home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I haven't updated in ages, I've had a ton of work and it's not getting any better. Sorry

From the moment Marcus was told that Bellamy was free to leave the station and Lincoln’s drug test came back negative, all of the tension in his shoulders left him. Christmas was two days away and it was definitely a relief that one of his kids wasn’t going to be spending the festive day in a cell, whilst the other one was distancing herself because her boyfriend turned out to be a drug dealer. Things were definitely looking better than they were two days ago.

The only thing that could ruin the special day was if the delivery van, carrying all of the presents he ordered, crashed or broke down or just didn’t arrive for tomorrow. He was always against online shopping unless in emergencies, but after some consideration, not having any presents to give your kids for Christmas was a reasonable argument and he just hoped that the internet would not let him down.

“Can we go and get a MacDonald’s?” Octavia’s voice asked excitedly from the back of the car.

After he had filled out all of the relevant paperwork for Bellamy’s release, they all jumped into the car as fast as they could to avoid the icy bite of the wind and snow, that was currently preventing Marcus from seeing any further than ten metres ahead of him. 

“I’m not getting out in this weather to go and get you a MacDonald’s happy meal Octavia, especially when there is perfectly healthy food at home” he said in his best dad’s voice, trying to sound as serious as possible. He wasn’t a massive fan of cheap fast food and only bought food from places like MacDonald’s and Burger King is he had no other choice. 

However, Octavia adored the cheap meat and French fries which to her seemed like a perfectly healthy meal if you had a couple of salad leaves with the burger.

“Please dad” her voice purposefully whining.

“I have already bought food for Christmas dinner and all of your presents, I’m not exactly the richest person in town at the minute”

“As a treat, for Bellamy”

Marcus looked over to Bellamy, who hadn’t said a word since they had entered the car. He didn’t know how to handle him in a situation as delicate as this, Bellamy had been quite quiet when he first met him and Octavia, but over time the boy would have always come to him if something was wrong. Now, as the young man stared straight ahead through the window, watching as the snow fell before them, Marcus couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about what he had said to him back in the station the other day. 

“Come on Bell, just imagine those warm fries and chicken burger melt into your mouth” Octavia prompted her brother.

“I’ll eat anything”

Bellamy had always had a deep voice, but now it sounded hollow too.

“Why don’t we just go home, I think we’ve all had enough drama these past couple of days” Marcus sighed, giving up the strict dad act.

“You don’t even have to go outside, just go through the drive-thru” 

“Octavia, I’m tired, I don’t have a lot of money on me and I want to get home before the weather gets any worse”

“God, why are you so against this. It will cost like a fiver” she argued.

“Look, we hav-”

“So you can buy Abby coffee, on two separate occasions, but you can’t afford to get me a happy meal?”

“Who’s Abby?” Bellamy asked, slightly too fast for normality.

“Dad’s new girlfriend” Octavia supplied.

“Since when?” her brother responded sharply.

“Since never. Abby and I are just friends” Marcus said calmly, before Octavia could respond.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to see anyone for a while, after you and Callie broke up” the younger man questioned.

At the mention of Callie, Marcus tightened his grip on the wheel. They hadn’t spoken face to face since they split up, just a couple of texts.

“I’m not seeing anyone” Marcus said, trying to sound reassuring.

“Right, so the fact that you have been on two dates suggests that you are simply just friends, and you have been texting each other like a couple of teenagers” Octavia challenged. 

She liked Abby, but she couldn’t help teasing Marcus, his reactions were great.

“We haven’t…We aren’t…We met once for a chat as friends, and the other time you were there with us, so you can’t call that a date” he spluttered.

It wouldn’t matter what Marcus told his kids, neither of them were accepting his point. The truth was he did like Abby and although he had only known her for about six days and in that time he had fallen for her completely. The only problem was juggling his growing feelings for this woman with his job and his two children. Octavia and Bellamy were great, he knew that from the day he met them. Octavia was always cheerful and would always have some witty remark to throw into a conversation and Bellamy was smart and confident, but these abilities didn’t always work in his favour, much like now.

“Five minutes” Octavia pleaded from the back seat.

“What?” Marcus asked, still lost in thought.

“MacDonald’s”

“Fine” he answered with a sigh, knowing that Octavia would keep pushing, even after they had driven past it.

Reluctantly, Marcus drove them into the drive-thru lane and waited for their turn.

The car smelt of greasy fries. That was the one thought that Marcus couldn’t get out of his head. After complaining to a dismissive Octavia, who simply answered with a shrug of her shoulders, he just had to put up with it. Bellamy was still quiet but he noticed some small smiles at Octavia’s comments, and that had to be a good sign.

They arrived to a damp, cold house, all three of them made their way inside and then disappeared into their own private spaces. The sound of both upstairs bedroom doors shutting, or slamming in Octavia’s usual ‘manner, alerting Marcus that both kids were tired and found himself unsurprisingly feeling a bit worn out. Kids. A sad smile graced his lips at the thought, because they weren’t kids anymore, Octavia was sixteen and although he hadn’t spoken about it directly, Marcus was sure Bellamy had plans to move out soon. 

Making his way to his own room, Marcus felt his phone vibrate from its place in his jacket, with a hopeful small smile he pulled it out and unlocked the screen.

‘How on earth did I manage to end up with a house full of teenagers eating pizza in my living room whilst playing beer pong?’

A confused expression washed over his face, trying to figure out how she did have a house full of teenagers at the current hour, followed by a smirk at the whole absurdity of her question.

‘Clarke?’ 

He guessed, happy to see the small reply bubble appear almost immediately.

‘Ugh. I think that girl is immune to my mom glares by now’

He momentarily dropped his phone onto his bed so he could undo the buttons of his shirt. He wasn’t quite sure where Abby was standing in terms of their new relationship, it was a friendly, easy conversational sort of stage but he couldn’t help but want more. When he thought about it, they had only known each other for a fraction of the time that he would usually consider as a respectable amount of time to move forward in a relationship, but Abby had a mesmerising spark to her. The last person he had dated was Callie, and a seven year relationship wasn’t something he could easily forget, not to mention the fact that Bellamy and Octavia had grown quite close to the woman and hadn’t taken the break-up very well either. 

Being with the kids was great, but being with Callie had made them a family, they still had there ups and downs but thinking back, Marcus couldn’t have asked for more.

‘You still there?’ 

The buzzing sound of his phone broke his trail of thought, causing him to realise that he had been staring into space with his hands still on the fifth button. Quickly reaching for his phone to answer her, he carried on unbuttoning his shirt with his free hand.

‘Yeah, sorry just lost in thought’

Not quite sure how to elaborate, he left it at that. Once he was free of his top, he unbuckled his belt and slipped out of his jeans before walking over to the small bathroom. With his phone still in one hand he exchanged a few more texts with Abby, offering her a couple of tips on how to try and get rid of Clarke’s friends. Once they said their goodbyes, he set his phone down on the small cabinet next to the sink.

Looking at himself in the mirror he frowned, his stubble was definitely growing longer but he found himself not caring as much as he would have done a few weeks ago. Ever since the age of about nineteen he had kept his hair short and smoothed back with gel and was always clean shaven, it felt strange to run a hand along his jaw and feel the roughness of hairs. After a couple more seconds of observing his image, he turned towards the shower and ran the hot water. Removing the rest of his underclothing, he cautiously stepped under the hot water, hissing as the temperature heated up his body.

After applying shampoo and body gel, he stood still allowing the water to hit his body and release the tension from his frame. His shoulders ached as he tried to loosen them, rolling them back and forward, letting the stiffness eventually subside. His fingers found their way to the now thin line across his side, gliding gently over the scar. It was fading, but the pink-brown skin was still noticeable, his doctor told him the line would remain but promised the pain wouldn’t last as long as he applied the prescribed ointment and took his medication daily. The memory of the incident would usually take over his thoughts and send shivers down his spine, but as he stepped out of the shower and dried his hair and body, ready to apply the cream, he couldn’t help but smile as he remembered that without the scar he wouldn’t have needed to pick up a prescription, meaning he would never had met Abby Griffin.

Swallowing the tablets always gave him a sickening feeling in his throat, even after he had taken them with a gulp of water the presence of a non-existent lump in his neck always bothered him. 

Taking a new set of pyjamas out of the cupboard, he slipped on the loose cotton pants and left the top on the small rack next to his towel as he waited for the oily cream to soak into his skin. A knock at the door of his bedroom broke the silence and he made his way to open it, meeting Bellamy’s gaze.

“A parcel came when you were in the shower, I think it’s from Vera. I left it on the kitchen table” he said with a small smile.

“Thanks” Marcus nodded back at him.

He watched as Bellamy walked away down the hall, but just before he turned around the corner, Bellamy glanced back with a small nod. The gesture was all Marcus needed to know that maybe things were going to be ok.

He headed downstairs, shivering at the cooler air against his bare back. The last time Marcus had visited his mother was April, and although he had called her a couple of times each month, he still felt guilty. He had grown up mostly with just his mom, as his dad was never really around, and at the age of seventeen he had decided his father’s absence was his mother’s fault. Looking back, spending all of those years turning down Christmas celebrations and Thanksgivings was such a waste of life, because now he couldn’t do any of the things he could have fifteen years ago. 

When he reached the kitchen, he noticed the package on the table. Grabbing a knife from one of the wooden drawers, he then carefully sliced into the cardboard. Inside, lay three cubed boxes, each wrapped in snowflake Christmas paper. A smile graced his lips as he read the three names the presents were addressed to, he had always loved his mother’s handwriting, and the way she would make the letters swirl across the paper. 

He made his way to the six foot tree that was standing in a small alcove, behind it the window was steamed up from condensation but he could just make out the snow falling onto crisp grass of the garden. Placing the box of presents with the other wrapped gifts at the base of the tree, he couldn’t help the upwards pull of his mouth at the memory of seeing Abby, surrounded by Christmas shopping bags, in the mall. A brief thought passed through his mind, wondering if it would be strange if he gave her a present. A small shake of his head rejected the idea, he didn’t really know her, not properly. Making his way back up the stairs, the thought surfaced again, not quite going away.

An hour later, found Marcus sat in bed, eyes scanning his laptop screen for ‘gifts for women’, panicking a little more than he knew he should be, at the thought of not only buying the right present but actually giving it to her. He had definitely fallen for this woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that I will try and update more often. Hope you enjoyed it :)


	9. This isn't a proposal. Not yet, anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus asks Abby to meet him on Christmas Eve, hoping to give her something as a thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KABBY! KABBY! KABBY! I love them so much. And I am on edge waiting for this trailer, I reckon it will come out within the next week. Well at least I hope so. Hope you enjoy.

Abby answered the phone on the first ring, her thumb automatically swiping along the screen. She would be lying if she said that the flutter in her stomach wasn’t caused by seeing Marcus Kane’s name appear on the screen.

“Hey Marcus” she answered, voice a little shaky with excitement.

“Abby, hi” he greeted back.

“Can I help you or…?”

“Oh, I was just, er, wondering if you had any free time today, it won’t take that long, I just…” he cringed at his inability to actually talk to her now. 

“I have to drop of some files at the hospital at two, I can meet you around there” she suggested, not quite knowing what he was wanting to talk to her about.

“Yeah, that’s… fine, how about half-past outside the main entrance”

“I’ll see you there” 

“Yeah, bye” he replied.

The wave of excitement washed over her again, she was still confused about what he wanted to tell her, but decided that meeting him without knowing why was better than not meeting him at all. It was Christmas Eve and the thought of going in to work was now brightened by the anticipation of waiting to see Marcus.

Clarke entered her bedroom, snapping Abby out of her thoughts. Her daughter still looked as though she was in the dozy-stage of waking up, as she climbed into the bed, smiling at the warmth the covers provided. Abby immediately held her arms out for Clarke to snuggle into her, enjoying the feeling of having Clarke cradled next to her so casually.

“Hey baby” she whispered into Clarke’s hair, stroking her fingers through the blonde curls.

“Hey” Clarke replied, sleepily.

“You ok?” 

Clarke just nodded in reply whilst letting out a soft yawn, curling her body further towards her mother, seeking out her warmth. The both sat there in silence, enjoying the rare feeling of each other’s close company, until eventually Clarke spoke.

“Mom, I need to tell you something”

“You can tell me anything, honey” Abby replied, curious as to what Clarke was going to tell her.

“It’s about, em…” she trailed off, before starting again after a couple of moments to collect her thoughts. “It’s about Lexa”

“Ok” Abby said whilst nodding, sucking in a deep breath.

“Well, Lexa isn’t just my friend, she, we are like, together” Clarke said shakily, not trusting herself to say anything else until her mom had said something.

Abby sat there, with Clarke in her arms, trying to recall any ‘more than friendly’ actions between her daughter and Lexa. When she thought about it, there had been some comforting touches between the two girls, but they weren’t expressively direct towards each other.

“I know that I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t know how and then you were busy working and it never really came up. You told me that you liked Lexa so I decided that I could work with that for a while, and I…” she could feel tears forming in her eyes, not knowing what else to say at her mother’s silence.

Abby slowly took Clarke’s face in her hands, feeling her own eyes beginning to water, she stroked her daughter’s flushed cheeks and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead.

“Hey” Abby said, trying to get Clarke to look up at her. “It’s ok, everything’s fine, everything’s going to be ok” she cooed. 

“You’re not mad?” Clarke asked, taking in a shaky breath.

“Of course not. I am happy for you Clarke, and Lexa”

She wiped Clarke’s tears away from her eyes, with the pads of her thumbs, and she held on to her daughter tight. 

“I love you Clarke” she whispered, into her daughter’s ear.

“I love you too mom” Clarke sniffled back, a smile pulling at her lips, happy that her mom knew her situation and the fact that she had her mother’s blessing took a heavy weight of her shoulders.

Abby headed out of the main entrance, things had gone quicker than she had expected, usually the hospital was packed out on Christmas Eve, but it turned out that the hospital management had actually sorted out more staff for the main part of the festive holiday. It was only quarter-past two, which meant that it was another fifteen minutes until she was meeting Marcus. 

She started walking towards the main shopping area, thinking a small walk in the winter air would do her good. As the minutes passed, she found herself walking through the small park that she would sometimes run through. Checking her watch she planned out how long she could keep going without being late to meet Marcus.

“Hey Abby” a cheerful voice, that sounded very much like it belonged to Raven, came from behind her.

Turning around, she met the young woman’s eyes. Raven stood completely wrapped up in a long brown coat which reached her knees with an almost equally long scarf, which hung around her neck.

“Raven” Abby smiled.

“How are you?” the younger woman asked.

“I’m ok. I’ve just been to the hospital to drop a few things off and I’m meeting someone in about ten minutes” 

“Oh, who’s the lucky guy?” Raven asked, with an obvious smirk.

“What makes you think that I’m meeting a man?”

“It’s just a hunch. Unless you have decided to follow in Clarke’s footsteps. How did that go by the way?” She asked, her voice turning from excited to serious.

“You knew” Abby said, realising when she said it, that it wasn’t a question.

“She told me a while ago” Raven replied, as if it was no big deal. “She texted me this morning saying she was going to tell you, I think she wanted to get it out of the way before tomorrow, you know” 

“Was she really that worried about what I would say?” Abby asked, slightly hurt that Clarke hadn’t trusted her.

“I guess she just wanted to tell you at the right time” Raven tried to reassure her. “Anyway, back to you, is it a guy that your meeting?” her smirk appearing again.

“Yes” Abby mumbled. It was slightly embarrassing that she was having this conversation with someone nearly twenty years younger than her. 

“Does he have a name?”

“Marcus” 

“Hmm, I only know two Marcus’, one of them is a cop and the other one is this really hot guy who I met in Florida, thinking about it, he was really nice as well, although sometimes he did this weird thing when we were having se-”

“A cop?” Abby interrupted, partly because she didn’t need to hear Raven talk about her sex life, but mostly because her young friend said she knew Marcus.

“Yeah” Raven just shrugged.

“Kane? Marcus Kane?” Abby asked, now desperately curious to figure out what Raven knew.

“Oh my god!” Raven exclaimed. “You and Kane. That is so adorable, why didn’t you tell me?”

“How do you know Marcus?” 

“Oh, Niylah said that she heard he was caught up in some big fight, I think the police were trying to catch some kids with a stack of guns and knives, a cop called Kane was injured, she knows his son, Bell” Raven watched as Abby’s expression changed. “Sorry, I didn’t realise that you weren’t aware of…” 

“No, no it’s fine. I met him like a week ago, we’ve only really met up twice”

“Apparently he’s pretty fit, for someone old” Raven commented.

“Old as in my age?” Abby raised an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean, I bet he has great abs though, cops always do”

“Right” Abby said, her cheeks turning pink. “I better be going, I’m meant to be meeting him now”

“Ok, I’ll keep you company until you get there” Raven said, joining Abby’s side when she turned to walk away.

“Raven” Abby warned, but was met with a beaming smile.

“I just want to see him, I won’t talk or embarrass you, I promise” 

“As soon as he meets us, your gone, deal?”

“Deal” Raven smirked again, as they started heading out of the park.

Abby could feel her cheeks, again, flush red, when they rounded the corner and the hospital came into view. As arranged, Marcus was standing outside the entrance, leaning against a lamp post. She could tell when Raven noticed him, the sharp intake of breath which was then, unsurprisingly, followed by a quiet wolf whistle in Abby’s ear.

“So…” Raven started, her tone teasing. 

“And this is where you leave us” Abby filled the silent gap.

“Can I just say hi?”

“No” 

“Please Abby? I promise I won’t do anything weird or embarrassing” the younger woman pleaded.

“Raven, you promised me that you would leave as soon as you saw him”

“Fine. But that is only because I’m a good friend and I honour all promises, not because you told me to” Raven insisted.

Raven took one more look at Marcus, who was casually scrolling through his phone, before giving a quick wink in Abby’s direction and walking back the way they had come from.

Letting out a small sigh, mostly to try and flush out the nerves that were building up inside her, now that she was alone. After about thirty seconds of staring at the man she was about to meet, she decided it was probably best if she actually went over to him. 

“Hey” she greeted, waiting for him to look up.

“Oh, hi” he said, softly, a smile forming on his lips.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked, trying not to sound nervous.

“I wanted to give you something actually”

“Oh?” Out of all of the things she thought of when she had put down the phone that morning, this hadn’t been one of them. 

“Uh… yeah, it’s not like big or anything. I just wanted to give you something, as a thank you” he mumbled, trying to convince himself that Abby couldn’t tell he was nervous.

“Oh. Thank you for what, though?”

“Driving me home last week, giving me advice on kids, putting up with Octavia’s comments” he said the last part with a smirk, knowing that Abby was fully aware of what ‘Octavia’s comments’ were.

“It really was nothing you know, and you bought me coffee. Twice” Abby replied, thinking that even if she thought he owed her that he had already made up for it.

“Yeah well, I just wanted to give you something, consider it a Christmas present” he said, looking down at his shoes whilst thinking about how lame he sounded.

He pulled out a small, black box from his pocket, his fingers trying to find a solid grip through his thick gloves. He was just about to hand it to her, when he noticed that a couple of passers-by had stopped walking to watch them. Slightly confused to what they were looking at, he frowned. Nothing was weird or out of the ordinary, looking down at Abby to find an answer he noticed her cheeks flushed red and her lip curled into her mouth as she bit down on it. Realising what everyone was looking at, made his own face blush, maybe he hadn’t thought about how it looked from any other perspective but his.

“They think I’m about to propose to you, don’t they?” he whispered, his head bending down to try and cover his smile.

“Well, you did just take out a small box from your pocket and you are looking adorably nervous right now” she replied, looking back up at him.

“Do you want to go somewhere a little less…?”

“Crowded” she supplied, and nodded when he answered with a small smile.

Trying not to make any eye-contact with the now, very confused people who had been watching the two of them, they both turned around to walk back in the direction of the park. After a few moments of deliberating with herself, Abby reached out and held onto Marcus’ hand, finding the tension leaving her shoulders as he clasped his fingers around hers in return, drawing them closer together.

They walked side by side through the trees, enjoying the silence and the feeling of just being in each other’s company. There was still a chill in the air, but it was dulled by the warmth of excitement in each of their body’s. There were other people in the park, some families and couples. Abby noticed another couple walking towards them, a mother and daughter, and she couldn’t help but think about everything that had happened that morning, with Clarke saying what she said and then Raven telling her that she had known for a while. Of course, it was up to Clarke to decide when to tell her, but Abby couldn’t help but feel hurt at her daughter’s thinking.

“Are you ok?” Marcus asked, noticing her discomfort.

“Yeah, I just…” she trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

“If you don’t want to be here, I don’t mind if-”

“No!” she cut off. “I really like this, spending time with you. It’s about Clarke”

“Oh, is she ok?” he asked, relieved that it wasn’t him that was causing her upset.

“Yeah, she’s fine. She isn’t ill or anything, it was just she told me something and I’m not sure if I am overthinking about it” she explained.

“Is it something big or…”

“You know I told you about her friend Lexa, from college” she said.

Marcus just nodded in response.

“It turns out that they are more than just friends”

Marcus was quiet for a couple of seconds, and Abby suddenly wondered if she sounded rude.

“It’s not the fact that she’s…”

“A lesbian” Marcus supplied, seeing her struggle. “Or bi”

“I’m completely fine with that, it’s her life and I told her that I would support her. It was just that she had seemed to keep it quiet from me for a while”

“Don’t you think that is a natural response though, nervous about what you would think?” he asked.

“I know that she would be nervous, I understand that. It’s the fact that I’m pretty sure that I am the last one to know” talking about it made her eyes tear up, she could feel the start of a lump forming in her throat.

Marcus gently pulled her hand, as he made his way to a nearby bench, urging her to follow. As she sat down next to him, he lifted his arm up so she could rest her head against his chest, before wrapping it around her small frame. They sat in silence for a while, Abby had stopped crying and was now only sniffling occasionally, glad that Marcus wasn’t pushing her to say anything else. Her cheeks burnt as the wind blew against her face, causing her to turn herself more into Marcus’ body to try and shelter herself from the cold air.

“You know, at least you have gotten to know Lexa. You didn’t just find Clarke making out with her on your sofa”

She couldn’t help but laugh into the fabric of his coat, because after all, it was true. She had met Lexa, in the presence of Clarke, and they had talked and she was a nice girl.

“Hmm, I thought Lincoln seemed like a nice guy, not bad on the eye too” she said, her voice muffled by his coat, smiling when she heard Marcus let out a grunt at the last part.

“He is nice” Marcus agreed. “Although I still can’t understand how he is so ripped” 

Abby laughed again at how serious he sounded, and she could guess that he had a furrowed brow and a confused expression.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing” she replied, smiling against him.

“You know, I still haven’t given you your present yet” he said, sounding a little more confident than before.

“No, you haven’t”

“Would you like it?” he asked.

She lifted her head up so she could look directly into his eyes. 

“I would” 

She smiled as he took the box out of his coat pocket.

“Hopefully there will be no odd looks this time” he said.

“You mean you aren’t actually proposing?” she asked, feigning an innocent, slightly whiny voice.

“No, I’m afraid this isn’t a proposal. Not yet, anyway”

She smiled at the last part of his sentence, as he handed the gift to her. Taking her eyes off his face, she focused of untying the thin, red ribbon and opened the case. Her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the silver bracelet, which was neatly wrapped around a roll of card, reading ‘Merry Christmas’. 

Watching Abby delicately touch the piece of jewellery made Marcus’ heart felt like it was growing. The thought would have made him cringe if he wasn’t so busy staring at the woman in front of him.

“Marcus, I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful, thank you” she said, staring back at him.

“I just thought it would be nice and I thought that it would look good on you” he said, breaking eye-contact to stare at his fingers.

“It’s really nice of you” she said, beginning to panic that she didn’t have anything to give him in return.

“It’s ok” he murmured.

“I’m afraid I don’t have anything to give you” she said, the awe of the moment making her honest.

“Oh, that’s fine. Don’t worry about it, I didn’t expect anything, I just wanted to give you something”

She took his hand again, causing him to look back up at her. She smiled before lifting her hand to his cheek, stroking her thumb through the hairs growing along his jaw. She didn’t know if they looked like it, probably not, she thought, but it felt like they were in some sort of romantic Christmas movie. Everything was perfect, he had turned up in her life and made her feel happy in such a short space of time and she loved it.

“Abby” he whispered, his head inching closer to hers.

Taking the opportunity, she leaned in and pressed gently against his lips, letting him respond before slowly moving her lips against his own. He didn’t try to deepen the kiss, which she couldn’t decide whether or not she was sad or happy about, since they were in a public space. 

Reluctantly, she pulled back, but stayed close enough so she could feel his warm breath against her face.

“Happy Christmas, Marcus” she whispered.

“Eve” he mumbled. “It’s Christmas Eve”

“Whatever” she sighed at his remark, but found herself smiling, despite his small comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I have decided this will be 10 chapters long. So one more after this and then I hope to write little fics, because I love Kabby so much but it can get quite difficult to keep up with updating. As always comments and kudos is appreciated :)


	10. The whole point of the apron thing is that you're naked underneath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later-after the park kiss(roughly) Anyway, Kabby smut and fluff and love and I still can't get over how adorable they are. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! And I know I've been terrible and haven't updated in 5 months and I'm so so sorry. I've had so much work to do and I have exams coming up. But here is a 4500 smutty word update which will hopefully make it up to you guys. I haven't written smut before so please be patient, I tried. And I'm sorry if you have to go back and re-read the whole thing again because I have been away for so long. But I Hope You Enjoy!

31st December 2017

 

Marcus sighed as he relaxed into his chair, his conversation with Bellamy playing through his thoughts. It had been four months since he had driven his son to Chicago, along with just about everything the boy -young man- Marcus corrected himself, owned. Bellamy usually called him once a week, just to check up on how everything was going and how Octavia was doing. Marcus knew he had a whole new life now, new friends, a new job, a new apartment, but he wished they could talk more, even if it was just the additional phone call. According to Abby, everything that he was feeling was completely normal, the constant gap in his life where Bellamy had been which caused him to sometimes enter his son’s old, empty room or stare at an old photo, was just another part of parenthood and something he would 'just have to deal with', in Octavia’s words.

He checked his watch, calculating that he still had another hour until he had to leave to pick up Abby. The house was so quiet recently, with Bellamy gone, Octavia either ate dinner out or at Lincoln’s house. It had been hard for her to adjust to the absence of her brother, especially since he had taken upon the role of brother and father when she was younger.

Empty. 

That was the one word which came to mind when thinking about home now, a house full of memories and ghostly shadows of things that had been lost to time. The past year had also brought the death of his mother, an event it took him several months to accept, although the slight hint of guilt was still implanted into the back of his mind, every time he would glance at framed photographs or pass a windowsill which used to be home to a plant pot. 

He still had Abby of course. A fact which he was reminded of nearly every day, either by a casual meet up, a phone call or text, they had even managed to get to grips with skype, which he was very proud of, and so was Octavia, apparently using technology bought him ‘special brownie points’. 

It had nearly been a year since they started ‘dating’, Marcus cringed at the use of the word, feeling a little too old to be using the term. After that first kiss on Christmas Eve in the park, he had asked her if she would accompany him for dinner sometime in the New Year, an offer which she had gracefully accepted. From there they had somehow mutually agreed that they were together, Abby had brought the subject of actually calling themselves a ‘couple’, teasing him that he hadn’t officially asked her to be with him. He had replied that he thought they were already, panicking a little until she had laughed at him and gave him a kiss.

Since then they had shared more kisses, more dinners and quite a few breakfasts, Marcus smiled lazily at the memory of their first night together. It had been nearing the end of March and after eating a joint-cooked meal at Abby’s house, small kisses had quickly turned heated. She tasted of sweet, red wine and chocolate, he soon found her kisses to become an addiction, only stopping when forced to remove items of clothing. He remembered the feel of her skin, the way he would fit perfectly into her, the sound of moans and pleading cries. He had woken up in the morning to her warm, tiny body curled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder and he felt happy, really happy, the type of happy where it warms the entire body up just through thought.

An hour later, found Marcus sat in the driver’s seat of his car, drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, driving down the main road that will take him to Abby. Never in is life had he ever thought that he could feel so alone yet surrounded by love at the same time. It was an impalpable concept to him, a foreign dream that had enveloped him into a life where he had no one else but the woman who he had fallen for. 

As he steered his car into Abby’s drive, he noticed a silhouetted figure moving around the kitchen, through the window. He knew Abby, she could get dressed in the space of two minutes if she had been called in to work because of an emergency, but still after a year nothing had changed when it came to fancy nights out. Thinking about it, it was one of the first things she told him on their first date, she was hopeless at dressing up for big nights out. She normally didn’t bother with anything else other than a light colouring of her eyebrows and some mascara, and always complained about how long it took to pick out an outfit, then co-ordinate makeup and hair. Although he was looking forward to going out tonight, Marcus couldn’t deny that he enjoyed nights spent curled up on the sofa watching TV whilst snacking on popcorn, the nights spent just relaxing in each other’s company. 

Stepping out of the car, he made sure not to brush his black jacket against the metal, the last thing he needed was a dirty suit. He quickly checked his hair in the window’s refection, trying to comb it back, before making his way to the front door.

After knocking a couple of times, he heard the familiar sound of Abby’s light footsteps approaching the door and a couple of seconds later it swung open.

Black heels, the first thing he saw, tall, black heels. Allowing his eyes to wander upwards, he took in her slim, tanned legs which were met just above mid-thigh with matt-black fabric. Marcus had always prided himself on his restraint when it came down to dressed-up women, but Abby had caused it to crumble to the ground. Finally meeting her eyes, he felt his stomach flip as he tried to work out what had happened. Her eyes were glazed over with what he could only guess were tears, and a small streak of mascara was threatening to steam in the corner of each eye.

“Hey” Marcus asked, more than greeted. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering she jerkily grabbed his hand and pulled him through the doorway, making sure he was fully inside before closing the door and resting her forehead against it.

“Abby?” he tried again, not too sure how to approach the unknown subject.

“I’m sorry” she sniffed, but remained facing the door. After a couple of seconds she felt Marcus’ hands slide around her waist, pulling his chest to rest against her back.

“Is it-” he paused and took in a shaky breath. “Have I done something wrong?” he whispered, bending his head down to meet her ear. Fear now coursed through him, partly hoping she wouldn’t answer.

“No. God Marcus, no!” she replied forcefully, turning around and letting her hands settle against his chest. She heard his exhale, and silently berated herself for confusing him. “I-it’s Clarke” she muttered, her hesitant tone obvious to the man in front of her.

“Is she ok? Is she hurt? Abby what’s-”

“We had an argument, that’s all. It’s not even that bad” she interrupted, trying to brush it off. This was meant to be their night, a happy night and now she had gone and ruined it.

“It doesn’t seem like something that’s not that bad” he said softly, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“No, it is. It’s ok. Look this is our night, let’s just go” she said, gently pushing past him and moving into the kitchen.

Marcus followed her, watching as her hands scrambled around on the granite surface until shakily picking up her keys and phone. 

“Abby, I can cancel our table. I don’t mind, we’ll just stay here” he said, watching as she jammed the items into a small handbag.

“No, this is important. You chose the restaurant and we’re both ready. Let me just re-do some of my makeup and we can go”

“I honestly don’t mind. If you have food in, we can eat here”

He watched as Abby looked down at her bag, her eyes flicking between each belonging in it.

“You sure?” she questioned, slowly looking up to meet his eyes. “You don’t mind?”

“I’ll even cook” he said, smirking at her lips which began to curl up at the sides.

After another look at her, he nodded and shrugged of his black jacket and turned to search through the fridge. He heard Abby let out a small sigh and glanced out of the corner of his eye to see her removing her heels.

“Well if we’re staying in, I’m changing into something a little more comfy” she said, making her way towards the stairs.

Reaching her room, Abby unzipped her dress carefully. It may not have been the most comfy dress she had ever worn, but it had a big price tag and the last thing she wanted to do was split the seam. She lifted it above her head and placed it back on the hanger, leaving her in a matching lacy underwear and bra. She had never been one for dressing to impress when it came to guys and lingerie, mainly because she couldn’t understand how any woman went through the pain of having a super-tight thong wedged between their butt cheeks, but Raven had found her the perfect medium for her last birthday. Abby could almost imagine Raven here right now, wearing the same sly smile she did when Abby had unwrapped her present.

With less than a minute spent contemplating, she reached for another hanger in the wardrobe, one of her favourites. She slipped on the blue button-up shirt with ease, sighing at the feel of loose fitting clothing against her skin. The shirt reached a little higher than her black dress had, but it was warm in the house and it meant that she could move around more freely.

Jogging into the bathroom, she reached for one of the bags on the shelf and took out a pack of makeup removal wipes. To be perfectly honest with herself, she was a little disappointed to be taking off makeup she had only been wearing for about half an hour, especially when she had taken so much time applying it. But she didn’t want to have to take it off after dinner and that would mean having to leave it on overnight, and there was nothing worse than waking up with a face caked in foundation. 

Ten minutes later, after brushing her teeth and applying some moisturiser cream to her skin, she wandered back downstairs, curious to see what Marcus had come up with.

To her surprise, but definitely also to her delight, she was met with Marcus’ bare back with a single inch of fabric around his neck. Letting her eyes roam over his sculpted shoulders she made her way over to him, slipping her arms around his torso and letting her head rest against his back, mimicking his position before.

“So, what’s on the menu tonight Chef?” she murmured, lips moving against his skin.

“Well, I was thinking about making Fideuà, that dish I made a couple of weeks ago”

“Mhm” she sighed, her breath tickling his skin. “That was one of your best dishes, I liked the seafood”

“Oh, really?” he said, turning around in her arms. “Well I’m glad it’s made your top ten”

“So, come on Gordon Ramsey” she teased, lifting up on her tiptoes. “What are you making me tonight?” she whispered into the crook of his neck, smiling as he lifted his eyebrows at her.

“I was hoping to match the standards of that restaurant we were going to go to, but I think your wide range of food in this kitchen may just give me the upper hand”

She frowned, trying to remember the last time she went on a big food shop and immediately questioning what he could possibly be making from what she had in.

“I found these two bad boys in your freezer” he grinned as he took in her confused look, before reaching behind him and grabbing the two boxes on the counter.

“Really Marcus? Frozen pizza”

He held his hands up in a mock surrender, feigning a look of hurt.

“What?” he gasped. “Are you telling me that you don’t like a stuffed crust, meat feast pizza?”

Her only reply was a giggle against his chest, finally realising he had been lying throughout the conversation.

“And” he said, taking a small step back but keeping her within arm’s length. “I even dressed down for you, even Ramsey doesn’t do that” 

“Well, I’m glad it’s you and not him to be honest. But you do realise the whole point of the apron thing is that your naked underneath” she replied, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

“Are you telling me” he started, pausing to nuzzle at her neck for a second. “That you want these off?”

“I think it would put an edge on things, yes” she replied, her tone low and seductive, whilst slipping her thumbs through the empty belt holes of his trousers.

“As the lady wishes” he responded by placing a kiss on her hand and unbuttoning his trousers. Placing the black fabric across one of the bar stools next to the small island counter with his dark underwear on top, he gave a small twirl, causing the apron to move outwards.

“Much better” Abby commented, grinning as she moved towards him. A Marcus Kane in an apron was one thing, but a naked Marcus Kane in an apron, standing directly in front of her on New Year’s Eve was one of the hottest things she can ever remember witnessing, and it was impossible not to kiss him.

He tasted of mint, clean and fresh for what was supposed to be a ‘fancy night out’, but there was also another taste, one she could get drunk off, quite literally.

“Which one?” she asked between kisses.

“Which one what?”

“Bottle of wine”

He grinned against her lips, the fact that she could taste his last drink from kissing him sent jolts of want straight through his body. 

“Terre del Barolo, it was on the rack” he replied.

“It suites you” she said casually, before peppering a line of kisses down his neck.

“What do you mean it suites me?” he asked, sounding adorably confused in Abby’s mind.

“The taste, it just suites you”

“Thank-you” he said, hesitantly, but beginning to grin. “Want to know what suites you?”

“What?” 

“My shirt” he replied, his smile widening as she pulled back to look at him. “I hadn’t even realised you’d taken it, but I think it looks better on you” he carried on, smiling but his tone was serious.

“Some may say you have ulterior motives for dishing out those sorts of complements, Kane” Abby grinned back, eyes wide and voice strong, confident, he liked hearing her talk like that.

“And others may say it’s a crime to steal other people’s belongings, Griffin” he copied, trying to keep a straight face.

“It’s a good thing that you can put in a good word for me when I’m arrested then” she mocked, leaning up to kiss him again.

His hands were slowly making their way up her body, slipping under her ‘his’ shirt. Abby groaned in response, opening her mouth to give him access to more of her as encouragement. He pulled her even closer towards his chest before making his way down her throat with his lips, causing sparks of electricity to pulse through her. She wondered if she will ever tire of Marcus’ lips on her body, it would definitely be hard to, she thought as he sucked on the hollow of her collarbone.

“Marcus!” she gasped, as he sucked harder. “Bedroom”

“Hang on” he said, moving further down to where the shirt was unbuttoned lowest, just above the swell of her breasts. 

“Now” she moaned, knowing that if he kept going, they would never make it upstairs.

Marcus suddenly dropped down and she felt the pressure of his hands on the back of her knees, causing them to bend as he lifted her up. Her arms automatically flew around his neck as her feet locked together behind his back. He began taking slow steps towards the hallway, making his way out of the kitchen whilst trying not stumble into anything as Abby started to suck behind his ear. It always made Abby feel nervous when he carried her upstairs, not that she didn’t trust, she did, but there was always a niggling thought at the back of her mind silently wondering what would happen if he slipped or over-balanced.

But just like always, they made it to the upstairs landing without any complications and Marcus increased his pace towards the bedroom.

“Off” he said simply, sending shivers down Abby’s spine, anticipation building up inside her like wild fire.

She lifted the shirt over her head and threw it to one side, noticing his shedding of the apron, gasping as his lips attacked the newly revealed skin.

“So beautiful” he murmured, reaching behind her and unhooking her lace bra. 

She let out a moan as he took one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking on it eagerly whilst palming the other one. His hands oved to her hips, gently pushing her back until her legs touched the edge of the bed. As much as she enjoyed playing her own games with Marcus, teasing him until he couldn’t take it anymore, she loved it when he took control.

Abby climbed onto the covers and shuffled backwards until she reached the headboard, with a very eager Marcus crawling towards her. His lips made their way back to her breasts, placing open-mouthed kisses wherever he could reach before moving his body back and leaving a trail down her toned stomach.

“Marcus” Abby hissed, as he palmed her through her underwear.

“Yes, Abby” he said, mocking her.

“Please”

He held her eye contact as he hooked his fingers around the edges of her remaining clothing, pulling them down her legs slowly. Her head fell back against the pillow as he started kissing his way back up her leg until he reached between her thighs and nudged at her folds with his nose. Humming at the scent of her, he started to stroke his tongue up and down, agonisingly slowly.

“Ah” Abby breathed, wriggling underneath him. “Marcus, more”

He obliged, just like he always did. His lips found her clit and sucked gently at first, but as her hands started to carve their way through his hair, he increased the pace. He had to hold down her waist as she drew closer to the edge, the pleasure getting too much for her. He slipped his tongue into her entrance before licking her clit, again.

Abby came with a cry, her head spinning from the waves of pleasure rolling through her. She loved the feeling of just knowing that he knew exactly how to satisfy her, every time since the first time they had slept together. 

“Good?” he asked, making his way to lie next to her so their heads were level.

“It’s always good, Marcus” she panted, still trying to catch her breath.

“I hope it makes up for the pizzas” 

She couldn’t help but laugh in response, which perhaps wasn’t the smartest idea as she was left breathless again. 

After a couple of minutes of silence, both of them enjoying the moment, Abby rolled onto her side and gave him a devious smirk. 

“What time is it?” she asked, trailing her hand down his chest, watching as Marcus leaned up to get a clear view of the alarm clock on the bedside table.

“Half ten” he answered, falling back down on the covers.

Abby’s hand moved down his torso, following the light line of hair down until she wrapped her fingers around his hardened length.

“Abby” Marcus pleaded, as her ministrations grew faster. “I’m not going to be able to-”

“Ssh” she whispered, catching his line of thought.

She rolled onto her back, bringing Marcus with her until he was hovering directly on top of her. Reaching down, she took him in her hand again and rubbed the head of his shaft against her wet folds, causing him to hiss with pleasure.

“Shit Abby” he breathed through his teeth, his jaw set in concentration as he slid into her. 

Every time he entered her felt like the first. Her muscles clenched around him, releasing another groan from his lips. Feeling her hands tighten in his hair, he began to move at a steady pace, trying to prolong the moment.

“Marcus” Abby whispered, pausing for breath when he hit the perfect spot. “Faster”

He sped up, pumping in and out quickly, but not enough to hurt her. He could feel himself getting close, and knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer. Frantically, he moved one of his hands down to find her clit with his thumb, circling around it until her moans became more desperate. She lifted her hips up in response, creating the perfect angle, as he hit her g-spot every time. The combination of his thrusting and his thumb’s movements allowed her to topple over the edge, gasping with pleasure. Feeling her come around him, Marcus drew in his own shaky breath before reaching his high, tensing his arms to keep him from falling onto her.

“That was-” 

“Not bad” he finished, slowly slipping out of her and taking a place at her side.

“I was going to say something a little better than ‘not bad’” she commented, chuckling as he slid his arm around her waist.

“Mhm” he agreed, suddenly feeling very tired.

“You can’t fall asleep!” she said, trying to wriggle away as he slipped his other arm underneath her and clasped his hands together.

“Why not?” he mumbled against her shoulder, trying to nuzzle further into her.

“It’s only eleven, we still have another hour until New Year”

“Just five minutes”

Reluctantly she agreed, feeling a little drowsy herself, but silently promising she won’t actually fall asleep, just close her eyes.

But of course, when her phone begins to ring jolting both Abby and Marcus awake, she realises that somewhere between promising herself to stay awake and hearing Marcus   
lightly snoring behind her, she must have fallen asleep.

“Time?” Marcus said into the pillow, when he realised the noise was just a phone.

“Shit. It’s just gone ten” she sighed. “I can’t believe you let me fall asleep” 

“You going to get that?” he said, changing the topic.

It then hit Abby that her phone was actually ringing, someone was calling her. Scrambling out of bed and throwing on Marcus’ old shirt, she ran downstairs to where her phone lay in her bag. 

“Hello” she answered, trying not to sound too out of breath.

“Mom?”

“Clarke” Abby sighed, relief washing over her. At least Clarke was prepared to talk to her, which meant that their argument last night couldn’t have been too bad.

“Happy New Year” her daughter’s voice said softly.

“Happy New Year” Abby repeated.

“I wanted to apologise about last night, I shouldn’t have said anything and I know you are only trying to look out for me”

“No, I’m sorry. I was travelling at your age, you should be able to too” she said, annoyed that she ever told Clarke that she couldn’t go on a road trip around Europe with her college friends.

“Thanks mom” Clarke answered, pausing a couple of seconds before talking again. “So, how was last night?”

“Good” Abby replied, a knowing smile on her face.

“So you said yes?” Clarke exclaimed, her light tone confusing Abby.

“What?” 

“To Marcus, he told me he wanted to do it tonight, but he did seem nervous on the phone. Octavia practically threatened him, saying that if he didn’t she would never come home again” her daughter said, laughing at the memory.

“Clarke, I have no idea what you’re talking about” Abby answered honestly. Clarke couldn’t mean, no, she wouldn’t be talking about something like that.

“Oh shit” whispered Clarke. “Forget everything I just said then” she said hurriedly.

Abby heard the floorboards near the kitchen door creak, and looked up to find Marcus who made his way over to the barstool and started putting on his pants.

“I-” Not exactly sure what to say, Abby just stood with her phone to her ear, watching as Marcus slipped into his underwear.

He stood facing, not moving. Abby’s phone volume was on loud, he’d heard what Clarke had just said and wasn’t too sure on how to break the silence.

“I’m going to hang up now, Lexa says breakfast is ready. Talk later mom” Clarke said quickly, before Abby could say anything else.

Placing her phone on the kitchen counter, she slowly turned around to face Marcus.

“Abby, I-” he hesitated, slightly disappointed at her reaction, or the lack of one.

“Marcus I’m sorry. Shit, I’m so sorry” Abby began, looking at him with now teary eyes.

“If it’s not-” he started, internally panicking more than he ever had done. “I just thought, well, we’re together and I know it hasn’t really been that long, but-”

“You were going to do it at the restaurant” she interrupted overwhelmed with shock, not really listening to him.

“Yes” he said quietly, looking down at his feet. First day of a new year and he had already been turned down. 'Great start Marcus', he thought.

“Why didn’t you just tell me then, last night?” she asked confused.

“I think that would have ruined the element of surprise” he answered, his head still bent.

“Ask me now” she said suddenly, causing Marcus’ head to fly up.

“What?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“Ask me” she said again, walking over to him.

“The-” he took a slow breath. “The ring is in the car”

“I don’t care” she whispered, now standing in front of him.

“Abby-”

“Please?”

“I love you and I love spending time with you and-” he took her hands in his, noticing they were both shaking. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes” she answered, voice soft and slow.

“What?” he asked, not sure if he heard correctly.

“Yes, you idiot. I love you” she said, smiling as she pulled him down for a kiss. 

“But, I thought you just said you were sorry?” his voice still hesitant.

“I meant I was sorry that you didn’t get to do it how you planned, the way you wanted” 

“Abby, I wouldn’t have had last night gone any other way” he said, smiling back down at her, in reassurance to himself as much as it was to her. 

After a couple more kisses Abby pulled back and looked at him, really looked at him.

“Thank you”

“For what?” he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“For making me break the law”

“Thank you” he said with a smirk. “For driving me home afterwards”

“I guess you’re just a terrible influence” she giggled, as their lips met once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! I hope you enjoyed it. I have a bunch of one-shot ideas which I want to write, so hopefully I won't be away for too long. Thank you and kudos and comments are appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Dunno when i'm gonna update this but I will, hopefully. As long as life stays out of the way for a while.


End file.
